Elderfield: Carefully targeted debt relief welcome

Elderfield: Carefully targeted debt relief welcome

Saturday, February 23, 2013

The deputy governor of the Central Bank, Matthew Elderfield, welcomed recent announcements by the pillar banks that long-term loan modifications would form part of the range of solutions to the mortgage arrears crisis.

By John Walsh, Business Correspondent

?It is encouraging to hear more than one bank CEO acknowledge that, while repossessions will inevitably rise significantly, for co-operating owner- occupier borrowers there will also be a step-up in the volume of cases of long-term loan modification ? carefully targeted debt relief if you like.?

His view was echoed last night by Finance Minister Michael Noonan who said he envisaged the emergence of what he termed a ?menu? of possible solutions for those in mortgage arrears to include interest-only payments and other methods of relieving the burden on distressed borrowers. However, he drew a sharp distinction between ?those who can?t pay and those who won?t pay?, saying the latter faced repossession.

Earlier, speaking at the spring lunch for the Institute of Directors, Mr Elderfield said: ?Wider industry recognition of this balanced approach is important: recovery of loans in full wherever possible, repossession, voluntary surrender or trade down if necessary, but for co-operating homeowners who are insolvent and at the threshold of repossession having already cut back their living expenses, that there will be more use of long-term loan modification where they are willing to repay what debt they can but also want to remain in their home.?

The deputy governor of the Central Bank took up this position in Jan 2010 in the middle of the financial sector implosion.

The Central Bank conducted stress tests of the banking system in Mar 2011 and ordered the banks to raise ?24bn of fresh capital to act as a buffer against future losses. There would be very active engagement with the banks to ensure they deal with mortgage arrears and that these efforts are matched in their small business portfolios.

A fully functioning banking system is needed for Ireland?s economic recovery, noted Mr Elderfield. ?In this respect, the outlook remains difficult, with low levels of domestic economic activity and compressed net interest margins.?

?An early exit from the guarantee will help to normalise the sector and reduce a drain on profitability. Continuing efforts are also needed on cost control. The path ahead remains a difficult one and progress will inevitably continue to be slow given the significant dislocation that has occurred to the banking sector and the economy as a whole.?

There would be a new era of a much more robust regulatory framework at the Central Bank. ?Our strategy is one of assertive risk-based supervision underpinned by the credible threat of enforcement.?

Mr Elderfield stressed there would be new corporate governance standards that company boards would have to comply with in future.

The new guidelines include restrictions on the number of directorships that can be held. Moreover, there will be a goal of encouraging more diversity of background and robustness of challenge by broadening the gene pool of corporate life, he said.

?Do you have the right gender diversity? Do you have the right international experience? If you look around the board table and you are all the same sex, ethnicity, nationality and educational background, well, the answer is probably no. Board effectiveness reviews with these goals in mind are essential and need to be tackled in a structured and determined way, ideally with facilitation on these key points, to help offset the inertia that comes from incumbency.?

Picture: Central Bank deputy governor Matthew Elderfield who welcomed moves by the banks on mortgage arrears. Finance Minister Michael Noonan last night said he envisaged a ?menu? of possible solutions for those in difficulty. Picture: Jason Clarke

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Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/ietopstories/~3/0WsLvXzRIGI/

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Chris Egan, Tom Ellis cast in ABC's sexy gothic soap pilot

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - "Poe" star Chris Egan and "Miranda" actor Tom Ellis are ready to get hot and soapy for ABC.

Egan and Ellis have been cast in the network's drama pilot "Gothica," billed as a "sexy gothic soap set in present day that weaves together a mythology that incorporates the legends of Dracula, Jekyll and Hyde, Frankenstein and Dorian Gray among others."

Egan has been cast in the role of Dorian (presumably, Gray), while Ellis will play Victor (presumably, Frankenstein).

Matt Lopez ("The Sorcerer's Apprentice," "Escape to Witch Mountain") is writing the pilot, which is being produced by ABC Studios and the Mark Gordon Company.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chris-egan-tom-ellis-cast-abcs-sexy-gothic-165222888.html

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HBT: Cardinals' lack of action is their undoing

It?s hard to blame the Cardinals for staying the course. Even with free agents Kyle Lohse and Lance Berkman set to depart, St. Louis ended 2012 with a roster that already looked like a winner entering 2013:

Rotation: Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Jaime Garcia, Lance Lynn, Jake Westbrook, Shelby Miller, Joe Kelly, Trevor Rosenthal

Bullpen: Jason Motte, Rosenthal, Edward Mujica, Fernando Salas, Mitchell Boggs, Kelly, Marc Rzepczynski, Eduardo Sanchez, Victor Marte

Lineup: CF Jon Jay, RF Carlos Beltran, LF Matt Holliday, 1B Allen Craig, C Yadier Molina, 3B David Freese, SS Rafael Furcal, 2B Matt Carpenter/Daniel Descalso

What did it make sense to do from there? Upgrade at second base? Perhaps, but it was probably the weakest position in free agency this winter. The Cardinals were rumored to have made a run at Marco Scutaro before he re-signed with the Giants.

Upgrade the rotation? Since the Cards seemed committed to Carpenter and Westbrook, that probably would have meant sending Lynn back to the bullpen and there simply weren?t many starters available in free agency that were better bets than Lynn and those few would have been expensive.

Adding to the bench should have been a priority, and the Cardinals did. Unfortunately, they did so with Ty Wigginton, a defensive liability no longer worthy of a roster spot. They also signed Ronny Cedeno as a shortstop fallback rather than trust an encore performance from late-season surprise Pete Kozma.

Besides those two, the only notable newcomer is lefty specialist Randy Choate.

That the Cardinals did so little might have been just fine if not for the events of the last month. Carpenter is expected to miss the season after his nerve problems returned with a?vengeance. Miller, the early favorite to replace him in the rotation, is sidelined with shoulder tightness. And Furcal, the lineup?s biggest question mark, is still having problems with his throwing elbow.

The Cardinals are still fairly well protected in the rotation. Even if they have to dig down deeper as the season progresses, top prospects Carlos Martinez and Michael Wacha could prove ready. Rosenthal should be a big weapon wherever he happens to be deployed.

The team is also very well set in the outfield, what with top prospect Oscar Taveras available to step in if Beltran goes down. The Cards can even put Craig back in a corner and call up power-hitting Matt Adams to play first base if needed.

The middle infield is a big issue, though, particularly in light of Furcal?s ill health. Ideally, Matt Carpenter will prove capable at second base and win the job there. However, if he can?t handle the defensive responsibilities, the Cards could be looking at spending big chunks of the season with the light-hitting Descalso covering one spot and Cedeno, Kozma and Ryan Jackson vying for the other.

At third base, Freese also has an extensive injury history, and while Carpenter is a fine fallback there, he can?t play second if he?s starting at the hot corner.

With spring training games having even yet to start, the Cardinals? depth has been whittled away. If it stops now, the team is still in very good position, particularly since it should have plenty of flexibility to pull off in-season trades. Still, it?s fair to express disappointment that the team didn?t do better than Wigginton and Cedeno for the bench. A Scutaro to start at second or a Kelly Johnson to give added protection would look quite nice right now. The left-handed-hitting Eric Chavez would have made a lot more sense as a backup to two right-handed-hitting corner infielders than Wigginton does. Time will tell if those misfires come back to bite them.

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2013/02/21/cardinals-lack-of-action-could-be-their-undoing/related/

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Plane wreckage may be linked to fashion icon

Daniel Dal Zennaro / EPA, file

Italian fashion scion Vittorio Missoni is shown in a 2009 photo from Milan, Italy. The chief of the Missoni fashion house has been missing along with five others since Jan. 4, when his plane vanished after taking off from the Los Roques resort area en route to Caracas.

By John Newland, Staff Writer, NBC News

Wreckage that may be remains of the missing plane carrying Italian fashion executive Vittorio Missoni and five others has been found off the coast of Venezuela, an Italian official said Friday.

"I can confirm that the wreckage of an airplane has been found off the coast, but we don't know yet whether this was the same airplane that was carrying Mr. Missoni," an Italian Foreign Ministry spokesman said.

The spokesman said Venezuelan authorities were still compiling their report on the finding as of 7:15 a.m. ET Friday, and Italian officials were waiting for more information.

The plane carrying the 58-year-old head of the major fashion house and his family and friends has been missing since Jan. 4, when it took off from the resort area of Los Roques on its way to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas.

Venezuelan Government / AP, file

Venezuela National Civil Aviation Institute search Jan. 9 for a plane that went missing near Los Roques, Venezuela, five days earlier carrying Vittorio Missoni, his wife and four others. Wreckage has been found, but it was unclear early Friday whether it was that of the Missoni's plane.

Luggage belonging to Missoni was found on the tiny island of Curacao, off the Venezuelan coast, about two weeks ago, The Associated Press reported last week.

Seven minutes after the plane took off, the pilot reported that he was at 5,000 feet and 10 nautical miles from the Los Roques airport, the Italian flight safety agency told The Associated Press. The last radar readings showed the aircraft accelerating at 5,400 feet before it quickly lost altitude and speed, veering to the right until it disappeared from the radar.

The Italian Foreign Ministry spokesman said more information about the wreckage was being eagerly awaited in Italy, where the Missoni name is iconic.

"We got the news early this morning from our embassy there [in Venezuela]," he said. "The investigations are ongoing. We are checking whether this was the plane."

In addition to Missoni and his wife, the plane was carrying a Venezuelan couple and two Venezuelan crew members, officials have said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/22/17055551-official-wreckage-may-be-plane-carrying-fashion-icon-vittorio-missoni?lite

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Bowers, Missouri rally, upend No. 5 Florida 63-60

By R.B. FALLSTROM The Associated Press

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Laurence Bowers missed Missouri's ugliest loss of the season, a 31-point blowout at Florida last month. His certainly made his presence felt in the rematch.

Bowers played his best game of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds, plus the go-ahead shot with 1:15 to play, helping the Tigers erase a 13-point deficit midway through the second half and rally past No. 5 Florida 63-60 to stay unbeaten at home on Tuesday night.

"Well, it's a huge win, especially coming off a loss," Bowers said. "This is very big for our team."

Phil Pressey added 10 assists, seven points, six rebounds and three steals for Missouri (19-7, 8-5 SEC). Pressey, whose wild play has contributed to the Tigers 1-5 road record, was conscious about distributing the ball instead of doing it all himself and didn't take a shot the first half.

"I feel like I can affect the game without shooting as much," Pressey said. "They haven't been harping on me about not shooting."

Pressey had 10 turnovers and two points with six assists the first meeting.

"The guy I was really impressed with was Pressey, because I thought he was, at our place, crazy," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "I really thought he did a terrific job of running his team."

Bowers missed five games with a strained right knee at the start of conference play. Before Tuesday, he hadn't been quite the same player in six games back and missed nine of 10 shots in a two-point loss at Arkansas on Saturday.

He played most of the final five minutes with four fouls.

"I just needed to play with nothing on my mind, just worrying about defense and rebounding," Bowers said. "I shot a few shots, but I promise you my approach was on the defensive end. And it just paid off."

Mike Rosario had 14 points for Florida (21-4, 11-2) but missed a 3-point try from the corner at the buzzer. Donovan thought it was a good look, unlike Boynton's 3-point attempt with Florida down a point and about a minute to go.

"No, did not want that at all," Donovan said. "I would have liked to have had some action driven to the basket. When you're down one, you at least want to create some penetration."

The Gators had won 13 of 14 and led 49-36 with 10:51 left, then hurt themselves at the foul line.

Florida missed five straight free throws in the second half, three times on the front end of one-and-ones. The slump ended when Rosario hit the second of two with 5:10 to go for a 54-50 lead.

The Gators made six of 12 foul shots overall. Missouri was 12 of 15.

"I haven't seen it in a while from my team, but you know, you have games like this," Boynton said. "Honestly, we had possessions where we could have overcome it."

The Tigers improved to 15-0 at home this season. They are 30-1 the last two seasons under coach Frank Haith and beat their first ranked opponent while out of the Top 25 since knocking off No. 15 Texas in 2010.

"The thing we did, we took it one possession at a time," Haith said. "When you get down 13, there's not a 13-point shot and I thought our guys did a great job of understanding that."

Haith said after the game he had received a "notice of allegation" from the NCAA and didn't seem worried.

"Contrary to what was reported, there was no unethical conduct in my notice," Haith said. "And it is just an allegation, so we get a chance to defend ourselves."

Keion Bell came up with the ball after it was tipped around following Boynton's 3-point miss and made two free throws with 3.1 seconds left.

Bowers' jumper from the key put Missouri up for good at 61-60 with 1:15 to go. Pressey's three-point play with 2:51 to go gave Missouri its first lead at 59-57. Scottie Wilkekin's 3 put Florida back up with about 1 1/2 minutes to go.

Pressey opened the second half with his first two points on free throws after getting fouled on a drive, and made his first shot from the wing with just over 14 minutes to go.

Pressey is just 1 for 23 on 3-pointers on the road in conference play, 10 for 26 at home.

Two dazzling assists by Pressey, the second wrapping around a defender to set up Bowers' dunk, capped a 12-0 run that cut Florida's lead to 49-48 with 8:02 to go.

Florida, averaging an SEC-leading 10 3-pointers in conference play, was 4 for 6 the first 7 1/2 minutes while grabbing an 18-6 lead. The Gators made just one of their last 11 3-point attempts of the half, going scoreless the final 4:39 while Missouri ended with an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 29-26.

Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/02/19/3243313/bowers-missouri-rally-upend-no.html

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Storm may dump foot of snow on Midwest

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? Hundreds of snow plows and salt spreaders took to the highways of the nation's heartland Wednesday, preparing for a winter storm that could dump up to a foot of snow in some areas and bring dangerous freezing rain and sleet to others.

Winter storm warnings were issued from Colorado through Illinois. By midday Wednesday, heavy snow was already falling in Colorado and western Kansas.

National Weather Service meteorologist Jayson Gosselin said parts of Colorado, Kansas and northern Missouri could get 10 to 12 inches of snow. Dodge City, Kan., was bracing for up to 16 inches of snow. Further south, freezing rain and sleet could make driving treacherous.

Officials feared the winter storm would be the worst in the Midwest since the Groundhog Day blizzard in 2011. A two-day storm that began Feb. 1, 2011, was blamed in about two dozen deaths and left hundreds of thousands without power, some for several days. At its peak, the storm created white-out conditions so intense that Interstate 70 was shut down across the entire state of Missouri.

"We're not going to see that type of storm, but it's certainly the most impactful in the last two winters," said Gosselin, who works in suburban St. Louis.

Tim Chojnacki, spokesman for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said it planned to have salt trucks on the roads before the storm arrived in the Show-Me State in hopes that the precipitation would largely melt upon impact.

Gosselin said sleet and freezing rain could make areas like St. Louis, southern Missouri and parts of Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas more dangerous than those with heavy snowfalls. Ice accumulations could reach a half-inch in some places.

"Sleet is no fun to drive on," Gosselin said. "Especially if you get a couple of inches, which could happen. It doesn't melt, and it's very heavy to move. It's difficult to shovel, you can't really plow it and the chemicals don't work as well."

Much of Kansas was expected to get up to a foot of snow, which many rural residents welcomed after nearly a year of drought.

Jerry and Diane McReynolds spent part of Wednesday putting out more hay and straw for newborn calves at their farm near Woodston in north central Kansas. The storm made extra work, but Diane McReynolds said it would help their winter wheat, pastures and dried-up ponds.

"In the city you hear they don't want the snow and that sort of thing, and I am thinking, 'Yes, we do,' and they don't realize that we need it," she said. "We have to have it or their food cost in the grocery store is going to go very high. We have to have this. We pray a lot for it."

Meanwhile, a separate snow storm caught many drivers by surprise in California, leaving hundreds stranded on mountain highways. A 35-mile stretch of Highway 58 between Mojave and Bakersfield was closed Wednesday, and several school districts closed. No injuries were reported.

Schools also were closed in northern Arizona and Colorado with snow there. Mindy Crane, a spokeswoman for the Colorado Department of Transportation, said hundreds of plows had been deployed for what was expected to be one of the most significant snow storms of the season.

Just the threat of snow had a big impact in Nebraska, where lawmakers cancelled Thursday afternoon committee hearings and University of Nebraska officials moved a Big 10 men's basketball game against Iowa from Thursday to Saturday.

Gosselin said precipitation is generally expected to drop off as the storm makes its way east. Chicago and parts of Indiana, he said, could get about 2 inches of snow and some sleet.

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Associated Press writers Roxana Hegeman in Wichita, Kan., and Colleen Slevin in Denver contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/storm-could-bring-foot-snow-parts-midwest-210322009.html

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Pa. hospital gets shoeshine tips totaling $200,000

PITTSBURGH (AP) ? A shoeshine man has given a Pittsburgh children's hospital a total of more than $200,000 in tips he's collected over the last 30 years.

Albert Lexie says he's been shining shoes for $5 at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh since the early 1980s. He says most customers tip him $1 and some give him an extra $2. He says a doctor gave him a $50 bill for Christmas.

WTAE-TV (http://bit.ly/136jx4X ) says Lexie gives all his tip money to the hospital's sick children.

Dr. Joseph Carcillo says Lexie has donated more than a third of his lifetime salary to the Children's Hospital Free Care Fund, which helps parents who can't afford to pay their sick children's medical costs.

Lexie has been shining shoes since the 1950s. He says, "It's good to be a hero."

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Information from: WTAE-TV, http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/pa-hospital-gets-shoeshine-tips-totaling-200-000-055245239.html

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