Ireland’s finance minister says he doesn’t want the cash — but unlike Michael Noonan, GlobalCapital is never one to punch a gift horse in the mouth when it comes to easy funding.
One such option could be for Apple and Ireland to reach a new type of agreement that would take corporate and sovereign relations on to a whole new level.
We couldn’t help noticing that Apple's (Aa1/AA+/AA) €1.4bn 1.625% Nov 2026s are bid at 0.53% whereas Ireland's (A3/A+/A) 1% May 2026s are bid at 0.46%.
If Ireland is so keen to for Apple to keep its money, maybe the US company should just annex Ireland as a funding SPV and save 7bp on 10 year money every time it visits the euro market.
If you think the idea is far-fetched, remember that it wasn’t too long ago that some wags were suggesting Greece could sell some of its islands to Germany to stave off bankruptcy.
Perhaps a similar policy could be adopted in the UK, if the worst economic predictions on Brexit turn out to be true.
Unlike England and Wales, Northern Ireland voted to stay in the European Union — perhaps its southern neighbour could use some of its new found Apple cash to buy Northern Ireland from the cash strapped UK.
Of course, we might be getting ahead ourselves. If necessary, the Bank of England can simply adopt our approach and sell the tonnes of gold it hoards in its vaults — starting with the stash it guards for other countries.