Business leaders shine spotlight on NAMA
Ulster's Chartered Accountants joined forces with leading commercial law firm Arthur Cox this week to examine the effect which the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) legislation will have for local businesses and investors.
At an event on Wednesday evening, a sell-out audience of over 180 business leaders came together to discuss the detail of the legislation and the implications of NAMA.
NAMA is the body created by the government in the Irish Republic in late 2009 as a response to the Irish financial crisis and the deflation of the Irish property bubble.
NAMA will acquire property development loans from Irish banks in return for government bonds, primarily with a view to improving the availability of credit in the Irish economy.
Keynote speaker at the event, Mark Barr, head of the Property Department with Arthur Cox in Dublin has been working closely with Irish Government officials in the preparation of the NAMA legislation.
He said: “NAMA has been introduced to stabilise Irish credit institutions, ease the financial system and restore confidence in the Irish banking sector. To do this, NAMA will acquire EURO 77 billion of land and development loans and associated loans from Irish credit institutions and manage those assets for up to 10 years.
“This new legislation will have consequences for credit providers, investors and professional advisors right across the island of Ireland. It makes sense for these people to be aware of the powers of NAMA and how the changes will affect how we do business.”
Kevin Kingston, Chairman of Chartered Accountants Ulster Society said: “NAMA brings a set of unprecedented changes to the Irish business, investment and property landscape and we believe that it is vital that local businesses and advisors are fully appraised of the processes and how they might impact locally.’’
Alan Taylor, Managing Partner of Arthur Cox Belfast Office said: “NAMA is a huge issue going forward, but there are still many business people and professional advisors in Northern Ireland who feel that they need more clarity on the issue.’’
Meanwhile The Business Alliance, comprising CBI, Centre for Competitiveness, IoD and the NI Chamber of Commerce has identified a number of potential issues for local businesses and has been engaging with government in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to raise awareness issues.
Among the issues of concern to the business bodies is the fact that companies may be drawn into NAMA even though they have performing loans and pose minimal or no risk to the financial institution. The Alliance has said that many businesses are not aware that approximately 40 per cent of loans being transferred to NAMA will be performing. The organisation says this could potentially be damaging to their reputation if NAMA continues to be perceived as a holder of solely non-performing loans.
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Weather for Belfast
Wednesday 30 May 2012
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