Ireland

A borrower has had 70 per cent of a six-figure debt written off as part of the country’s first debt settlement deal under the new personal insolvency regime, TheJournal.ie reported. In what is the first debt settlement arrangement in the country since the new regime came into force earlier this year a deal has been concluded between the debtor and what’s believed to be a number of creditors. It is understood that the debtor, based in the north west of the country, had an unsecured debt for a six figure sum and was unable to meet their obligations.

BWG, the operator of the Spar and Mace retail brands, yesterday concluded a debt restructuring with a consortium of five lenders that will see an estimated €100 million wiped from the group’s property borrowings, the Irish Times reported. The company, which had debts of about €300 million before the restructuring, has finalised a five-year arrangement with its lenders Bank of Ireland, AIB, Ulster Bank, Bank of Scotland (Ireland) and Blackstone.

The main banks have agreed a protocol to deal with legacy small and medium enterprise (SME) debt that they are planning to implement from January 2nd. Agreed under the auspices of the Irish Banking Federation, the protocol will deal with SMEs who are multi-banked – have loans with a number of lenders – and in arrears with their debts, the Irish Times reported. Details of the protocol emerged at the IBF’s annual conference yesterday. IBF president John Reynolds said Irish banks were “committed” to tackling legacy SME debt to help these companies become viable again.

The taxpayer will step in to cover half of a private pension fund if both the pension fund and the employer become insolvent, the Irish Examiner reported. New pensions rules being brought forward by the government will see the State cover half of the deficit in a pension fund if the employer is closing down. The rules are an attempt to avoid a repeat of the Waterford Crystal case where workers had to go to the European Court of Justice to secure their pensions.

The special liquidators of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation yesterday offered the final tranche of loans for sale to interested parties. The loans form part of Project Stone, a €9.3 billion portfolio of loans that has been put up for sale, the Irish Times reported. These are believed to include borrowings held by successful businessman Denis O’Brien, and financier Niall McFadden, along with loans connected with the Blackrock Clinic.

Ireland and Spain said Thursday they could stand on their own feet once their bailout programs end in the coming months, marking significant steps as the euro zone battles to exit a four-year debt crisis, The Wall Street Journal reported. The currency union's finance ministers hailed the decisions as signs that their strategy of budget cuts, economic overhauls and long-term rescue loans was working.

KBC Bank Ireland chief executive John Reynolds is to step down after almost 30 years with the company, the Irish Times reported. The Belgian lender also announced it would need to make a provision of up to €775 million in the fourth quarter for potentially lost loans and mortgages in its Irish loan book. This was as a result of moving restructured mortgages from a non-impaired status to an impaired status, it said. In a statement this morning, the bank said Mr Reynolds, who has been chief executive of the company for four years, is leaving to pursue other interests.

The National Asset Management Agency has put a London-based property company controlled by former Howard Holdings executives into receivership, according to court records in London, the Irish Times reported. The company, Wandle Holdings – which has 30 outstanding Anglo Irish Bank mortgages – is registered to an address at Hambalt Road, Lambeth in London, according to Companies House files. The administrative receiver to the company, Belfast-based John Hansen, was appointed on October 17th, though he will have to spend the next month or so investigating the company’s affairs.

The Central Bank believes it is powerless to sanction the directors and managers of Newbridge Credit Union (NCU) for a litany of alleged rules breaches that were outlined by the regulator in court documents last week, the Irish Times reported. NCU got a €54 million taxpayer bailout over the weekend to facilitate a High Court-sanctioned takeover of the credit union by Permanent TSB. The regulator only gained the power to sanction credit union directors for regulatory breaches from August 1st this year, under the Credit Union and Co-operation with Overseas Regulators Act.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said the Government will decide before the end of the bailout in mid-December whether it will seek a special credit line to guard against renewed turmoil after the rescue programme, the Irish Times reported. Mr Noonan was speaking alongside Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin this morning as the EU-IMF said Ireland had successfully executed all obligations on it under the three-year bailout, a key step in the process of leaving the programme next month.