Ireland

A Swiss former financial adviser to the family of Seán Quinn has strenuously denied being the “mastermind” behind an alleged conspiracy to move €500 million worth of overseas property assets away from the former Anglo Irish Bank. In an interview with the Irish Times, Michael Waechter – the founder of Senat, a United Arab Emirates legal and business advisory firm – said he had co-ordinated some of the Quinn’s legal actions and helped set up Belize and Panama firms for them, but he had at all times acted legally.

The Republic will not support a fresh legal challenge by the United Kingdom to the European Union’s proposed financial transactions tax, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said yesterday, as 10 EU countries preliminarily agreed to introduce a new tax on share transactions by 2016 and civil groups in Ireland condemned Ireland for not signing up to the measure, the Irish Times reported. Mr Noonan was speaking after Sweden said it would potentially support the UK if it brought a second case to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) over the plan.

Bank of Ireland was singled out for criticism by the head of the Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI) Lorcan O’Connor at an Oireachtas hearing yesterday for adopting a “very blunt” approach in its dealings with distressed borrowers, the Irish Times reported. While he did not name the bank, it was clear Mr O’Connor’s criticism referred to comments made to the committee by Bank of Ireland chief executive Richie Boucher earlier this month when he said his bank would veto any proposal from Personal Insolvency Practitioners (PIP) featuring mortgage write-down.

Inspectors from the EU/IMF troika have arrived back in Dublin to scrutinise the Government’s execution of the budget and its delivery of bailout reforms, the Irish Times reported. The inspectors were in Merrion Street last night for scheduled talks with Minister for Finance Michael Noonan, their first since Ireland left the rescue programme last December. The visit continues until the end of the week.

More than two-thirds of long-term mortgage arrears in the buy-to-let sector stem from cheap tracker loans rather than high-cost variable-rate mortgages, the Irish Times reported. The finding, contained in a study by the Central Bank, is likely to reignite concern that a significant portion of property investors are strategically defaulting on their mortgage loans in hope of gaining concessions from lenders.

The special liquidators of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation have told the Government they expect the proceeds from the sale of loan portfolios at the defunct institution to exceed the €12.9 billion in IBRC-related debt issued by the State at the time of its winding up last year. As a result there will be no additional taxpayer liability relating to the former Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide above the €34.7 billion that was given to the banks in 2009/10 via share capital and the Anglo promissory note.

Officials in charge of liquidating a pair of failed Irish banks are asking a U.S. bankruptcy judge to sign off on sales involving about EUR15 billion ($20.72 billion) in soured loans, as Ireland continues to dig out from the wreckage of its collapsed property market, The Wall Street Journal reported. Irish Bank Resolution Corp., a state-backed bank liquidation vehicle, is selling the bad loans at a discount to a group of distressed debt buyers, including affiliates of Lone Star Funds, Deutsche Bank Group, and Goldman Sachs. Approval from Judge Christopher Sontchi of the U.S.

The special liquidators of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation have told the Government they expect the proceeds from the sale of loan portfolios at the defunct institution to exceed the €12.9 billion in IBRC-related debt issued by the State at the time of its winding up last year. As a result there will be no additional taxpayer liability relating to the former Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide above the €34.7 billion that was given to the banks in 2009/10 via share capital and the Anglo promissory note.

Facing a growing problem of debt defaults, the Chinese government should deploy 100 billion to 200 billion yuan ($16 billion to $32 billion) this year to help restructure indebted companies, a former adviser to the central bank said Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported. "In the second half of the year, the government should promote debt restructuring in certain sectors," economist Li Daokui said at a news briefing, adding that the funds should be taken from the budget.

Up to 75,000 van and car drivers are being advised to seek alternative insurance cover following the collapse of Dublin-based Setanta Insurance, the Irish Times reported. The insurance firm, which was licensed by the Maltese Financial Services Authority, had been in the process of winding up its business here since January. However, at an extraordinary general meeting yesterday, shareholders were told a solvent run-off of the business was no longer possible and a decision was made to immediately dissolve the business.