A Review Of Key Developments In 2017

A decade after the dark days of the crisis, the Irish banking industry has significantly restored its reputation. After a long period of deleveraging (downscaling banking operations), commercial lending is likely to significantly accelerate in 2018. Non-performing loans, or NPLs, across the domestic banks are down almost 60% from their peak. 

Ratings agency Fitch recently upgraded its rating on Ireland, citing its improving banking sector and the IMF has reported that profitability amongst Irish domestic banks is now above the average of EU peers.

Key legal developments in 2017 include:

Penalty Clauses – Recent Supreme Court View

The traditional test

Until recently, the century-old test for penalty clauses applied in Ireland and in the UK had been to assess whether the amount payable was a genuine pre-estimate of the probable loss of the innocent party caused by the breach. If it was not a genuine pre-estimate, then the clause would be struck down as