Ireland

Bank of Ireland made an after- tax loss of €235 million last year on its Irish residential mortgages, according to a filing for the entity that handles this business, the Irish Times reported. Latest accounts for Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank indicate this was €2.8 million lower than the loss recorded in the previous year. They also show that its impairment provisions rose by 31 per cent to €1.35 billion last year. The accounts state that this hole was plugged by its parent company, the Bank of Ireland group, which bought shares at €8 each in the subsidiary.

The liquidator of two companies formerly controlled by businessman Philip Marley has written to creditors in recent days to tell them of matters “simply extraordinary” and of “great concern”, the Irish Times reported. Creditors owed substantial sums by Ely-related companies include the Revenue Commissioners; Zolfo Cooper, the liquidators of a British company called Space Student Living Ltd; IBRC; Investec; landlords; an accountancy firm; and an estate agent among others.

Bidders for the 13,000 former Irish Nationwide home loans put up for sale by IBRC’s special liquidators will voluntarily sign up to a code of practice that protects borrowers whose mortgages are in arrears if they are successful, the Irish Times reported. However, one lobby group says that the deal announced late yesterday, does not go far enough and has pledged to go ahead with a protest outside Leinster House today when the liquidators, Kieran Wallace and Eamonn Richardson of KPMG appear before the Oireachtas Joint Finance Committee.

A former director of Irish Nationwide Building Society has told the Minister for Finance it is “preposterous” that the two special liquidators of State-owned IBRC, both partners in accountancy firm KPMG, are suing him but not their own firm for alleged negligence. KPMG has been the society’s auditors for some 20 years, the Irish Times reported. KPMG accountants Kieran Wallace and Eamonn Richardson, who are suing the Minister over billions of euros of losses at the society, “have clearly decided to relieve their own firm of any responsibility”.

Nearly three-quarters of mortgages in long-term arrears have not yet been restructured, according to new figures from the Department of Finance, the Irish Times reported. The data shows 59,226 or 74 per cent of mortgages in arrears of 90 days or more have not yet been restructured. The figures are based on data from the country’s six main banks - AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, ACC, KBC Ireland and Ulster Bank.

Justice Minister Alan Shatter has admitted that changes are needed to the new Personal Insolvency System while he also defended how it is operating, Independent.ie reported. He was speaking at a conference for Personal Insolvency Practitioners (Pips) on introducing new ways to make the debt deals work more smoothly. Mr Shatter said that some changes to the insolvency regime introduced last year were "inevitable", when he addressed the first conference of the new Insolvency Service of Ireland (ISI).

An English subsidiary of troubled building group, Siac, is seeking court protection from its creditors, according to reports, the Irish Times reported. West Sussex-based Graham Wood Structural, owned by the Irish building group, has filed notice of its intention to appoint administrators. Such a move means that it will get protection from any legal action by creditors seeking to recover their debts from the company. Graham Wood specialises in complex structural steel projects. The business lost £1.5 million in 2011 and £1.2 million in 2012.

Siac’s future remains undecided after three creditors claiming they are owed a total of more than €30 million yesterday challenged a proposed rescue plan for the construction group in the High Court, the Irish Times reported. Investors, including owners the Feighery family, director Finn Lyden, French group Colas and private backer Ducales, are willing to put €10.5 million into the troubled group under the terms of a rescue plan proposed by High Court-appointed examiner Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton.

The first protective certificate in a High Court personal insolvency case was issued yesterday for a woman with debts of about €2.5 million, which she cannot repay, the Irish Times reported. Although such certificates protecting a debtor from bankruptcy proceedings have already been issued at Circuit Court level, the case was the first of its kind to be dealt with in the High Court. Ms Justice Marie Baker said she was satisfied to issue the certificate, having considered the application from the new Insolvency Service of Ireland.

An interim examiner has been appointed by the High Court to Elverys Sports which employs 654 people in 56 stores nationwide, the Irish Times reported. The move on foot of a petition by Nama comes as a pre-pack recevership of the company ahead of a management buy-out unravelled in the last few days. Mr Justice Brian McGovern was told that the board of the company which owns Elverys Sports , Staunton Sports, supported the petition for an interim examiner to be appointed.