Global finance house Merrill Lynch plans to create 300 jobs in Dublin in a new back-office operation that it opened yesterday.
The US company's new facility is in Leopardstown, Co Dublin. The firm already employs 400 people in the capital and it is understood that this expansion will lead to the creation of 300 jobs over the next four years.
Merrill expects to employ a total of 700 people in the Republic by 2008. The new project is backed by development agency IDA Ireland.
The Irish Times originally reported that the financial institution was planning to expand its operations here last June. It was known at the time that it was in talks with the IDA.
The firm is transferring the back-office element of its European transaction and custody services from London to Leopardstown. A number of staff from the UK will be employed there but the company expects to hire most workers locally.
The facility will process, clear and settle client transactions for Merrill Lynch's European business.
Investment funds have both administrators, who deal with the necessary paperwork, and custodians, who safeguard investors' interests. Both roles require considerable back up.
Merrill Lynch plans to transfer the complete operation to Dublin over the four-year period. Unlike many other financial institutions, it does not contract out its back-office function to third parties.
The firm's chief executive in Ireland, Mr Mike Ryan, said Dublin was a "superb base" for financial services.
"We've had an excellent track record here in attracting high-calibre employees and, with the assistance of IDA Ireland, securing the right environment for the continued growth of our business," he said.
Merrill Lynch is a leading financial management and advisory company. Its client assets amount to $1.5 trillion (€1.2 trillion).
Its fund management arm manages assets of $500 billion. In 2002, it reported profits of $2.6 billion, up from $573 million in 2001. The company shed more than 20,000 staff between 2000 and 2003.
The Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Harney, said its decision was a testament to Ireland's attractive environment for international financial institutions.
"Our continuing ability to win global financial services investments from such leading companies as Merrill Lynch is a further indication that Ireland remains a location of choice for international business when such projects are crucial to their future growth and success," she said.
She added that she intended visiting the US later this month on an IDA promotional visit.
"The fact that I am undertaking the trip at this time reflects the fact that, following a period of economic uncertainty, many US companies are ready again to make important investment decisions and that Ireland continues to be one of the first places on the world map that they look at," she said.
