Frank Daly, Chair of NAMA, addressed an audience of over 300 people from the business community at a recent Chamber event.

Chair of the Republic’s National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) Frank Daly

Chair of the Republic’s National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) Frank Daly, Chief Executive Brendan McDonagh and Peter Stewart, NAMA Board Member and Chair of the NI Advisory Committee, visited Belfast on Friday 14 May for the first time since the agency was established. The three spoke at a lunch hosted by the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce at Belfast’s Hilton Hotel to an audience of over 300 from the business community.

NAMA is expected to acquire loans from five participating Irish banks with a nominal value of approximately €5 billion which are secured by property assets based in Northern Ireland.  This is the first time that representatives of the organization have visited Northern Ireland to discuss its impact here. The event was chaired by President of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, Bro McFerran.

Speaking before the event, NAMA Chair Frank Daly said: Our purpose in coming to Belfast today is to outline how NAMA will work and – more importantly – to listen to the views of the business community here and to discuss any concerns which they might have about how NAMA will operate.”

President of the Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce, Bro McFerran, said: “While the National Asset Management Agency’s main concern is with Dublin-based banks, the nature of cross-border and international trade means that many of the agency’s assets are located in Northern Ireland. There is a common misconception that only non-performing loans are being transferred to NAMA. In fact up to 40% of loans transferred to the agency are performing and there are concerns surrounding various tax and credit implications for any company who finds their loans transferred.

“Today is the first time that NAMA board members and management have visited Northern Ireland to meet the business community and address their concerns. I would like to welcome the Chair, Chief Executive and NI Advisory Committee Chair in what I hope is the first step in building a strong communications channel between NAMA and the Northern Ireland business community.

“In addition, I look forward to working with the Department of Finance and Personnel’s NAMA liaison team to ensure that businesses in Northern Ireland have a clear understanding of its impact north of the border.”

Over 300 members of the business community attended the lunch along with Department of Finance and Personnel Minister Sammy Wilson, Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce Vice President Francis Martin and Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Ann McGregor.

NAMA was established under the National Asset Management Agency Act 2009 to acquire certain loans from the balance sheets of five financial institutions - Bank of Ireland, Allied Irish Banks, Anglo Irish Bank, EBS and Irish Nationwide.

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Source: Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce