Ireland

Former Siteserv executive Patrick Jordan has bought aircraft maintenance specialist Atlantic Aviation Group out of High Court protection in a €2.5 million deal, the Irish Times reported. The business, formerly known as Transaero, had been in examinership since January after its Russian parent ran into difficulties, but emerged from the process this week after the High Court approved a rescue deal put together by Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton. Mr Jordan is taking over the company in a transaction understood to be valued at €2.5 million.

The Insolvency Service of Ireland has reached an agreement with lenders and agents acting on behalf of a new Personal Insolvency Application (PIA) protocol which sets out the standards that creditors and Personal Insolvency Practicioners (PIPs) can expect from each other, the Irish Times reported. Under the protocol compliant arrangement banks and PIPs using the insolvency process will only use agreed documentation and standard terms and conditions when dealing with PIAs and all have committed “to high level principles” set out in the protocol.

Aircraft maintenance specialist, Transaero, will exit High Court protection on Wednesday after a three-month examinership succeeded in rescuing the business. Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton was appointed as examiner to Transaero Engineering Ireland in January after it ran into difficulties as a result of its Russian parent being unable to pay debts due to the Shannon operation. The company confirmed on Tuesday that the High Court has approved the completion of its examinership and that it will exit the process at midday on April 15th.

The Irish Mortgage Holders’ Organisation wants the Government to introduce a State-sponsored split mortgage that would allow local authorities to supplement the payments made by home owners in loan arrears and in danger of having their properties repossessed. It also wants a mortgage-to-lease scheme to replace the mortgage-to-rent one that has failed to gain traction and it has proposed changes to the insolvency regime.

their controversial veto – granted to them when a new insolvency service was set up two years ago – severely weakened before the summer, the Irish Times reported. The Government’s Economic Management Council (EMC), made up of Enda Kenny, Joan Burton, Michael Noonan and Brendan Howlin, met last week. It is understood to be pushing the Department of Justice hard for a radical overhaul of insolvency rules as the mortgage arrears crisis continues to be a political problem.

Developer Johnny Ronan has repaid his debts to the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) using cash raised from US and UK investors, Mr Ronan was one of the highest profile developers during the property boom that ultimately led to the Republic’s financial crash in 2008.

The joint special liquidators of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation have said they intend to continue with the bank’s legal action against the former chief executive of Irish Nationwide, Michael Fingleton, the Irish Times reported. In a statement, the liquidators, Eamonn Richardson and Kieran Wallace, confirmed that the bank has settled its legal action against former directors of the society in connection with losses sustained by the society. The settlement arose in mediation talks and included an undisclosed payment from the former directors.

Difficulties faced by credit unions are grossly exaggerated and confused with toxicity in the banking sector, the president of the Irish League of Credit Unions has said. Speaking to the Irish Times, Martin Sisk said issues faced by a small number of credit unions were broadly misconstrued as affecting the whole sector. “There were things said that suggested that credit unions had a much bigger problem than they actually had and a lot of issues got exaggerated at the time, but I’m glad to say that in more recent times there is more clear [media] coverage of the issue,” he said.

Household loan repayments exceeded drawdowns by €608 million during February, according to new figures released by the Central Bank. This follows revised net repayments by housesholds of some €548 million in January. The Central Bank said the outstanding amount of loans to Irish households decreased by an annual 3.5 per cent last month, following a decrease of 3.2 per cent in January. The outstanding amount of loans for house purchase, which account for 82 per cent of total household loans, declined at an annual rate of 2.6 per cent.

Comments by a Supreme Court judge on a matter of law could have implications for many hundreds of distressed mortgages loaned by the former Bank of Scotland (Ireland), the Irish Times reported. At the end of 2010 a cross-border merger took place between Bank of Scotland Ireland (BOSI) and Bank of Scotland. As a result, BOSI ceased to exist. Since then, some of the mortgage business of the former BOSI has been sold on to other international finance companies, while the rest of the loans remain on the books of Bank of Scotland.