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The Central Bank sent accountants into Nationwide because of concerns about its lending practices nine years before the mortgage…

The Central Bank sent accountants into Nationwide because of concerns about its lending practices nine years before the mortgage lender collapsed, reports the Sunday Business Post.

The newspaper documents a number of revelations in connection with former Irish Nationwide chief executive Michael Fingleton ahead of the broadcast of Inside Irish Nationwide, a documentary that will air on RTÉ One tonight.

New details of his corporate expenses include an outlay of €14,700 on 24 bottles of wine, €25,000 for 72 bottles of Cristal Champagne and €8,400 for six bottles of Midleton whiskey.

Globoforce, a Dublin company that runs staff reward schemes for major employers, is advancing plans to list on the Nasdaq, according to the Sunday Times.

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The company has filed paperwork for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US and is expected to decide to float within weeks.

The paper reports that the listing could value Globoforce at up to €300 million and deliver a strong return for backers led by Balderton Capital.

Barclaysbank is to close its controversial tax avoidance unit as part of a strategy review, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

The review by chief executive Antony Jenkins, due to be published tomorrow, will say the bank will shut its structured capital markets business, the paper reports.

In the mid-2000s, the unit became synonymous with Barclays’s aggressive investment banking culture under the stewardship of Mr Jenkins’s predecessor, Bob Diamond. It gave advice to large companies on how to avoid tax.

The oddsof Ryanair's bid for Aer Lingus succeeding have now "increased beyond 50:50", International Airlines Group (IAG) chief executive Willie Walsh told RTÉ Radio 1's The Business on Saturday.

“Whereas if you had asked me three months ago, I would have said less than 10 per cent chance of success.”

Mr Walsh, who was chief executive of Aer Lingus from 2001 to 2005, said if the bid was successful, it would be “pretty sensible” for Ryanair to keep both brand names.

The Governmentwill announce the sale of life and pensions company Irish Life to Great-West Life within days, the Sunday Business Post reports. The Canadian financial company is expected to pay at least €1.3 billion for the State-owned Irish insurer, it reports. The Government acquired the company last June as part of the recapitalisation of Permanent TSB.