Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency (“NAMA”) was established under the National Asset Management Agency Act, one of the most significant and far reaching pieces of financial legislation in the history of the Irish State. The Act was passed into law on 22 November 2009.
The purpose of the Act is to cleanse Irish banks of distressed assets in order to restore confidence in the banking sector generally and to underpin the effect of Government support measures in relation to that sector. The Act gives NAMA the power to acquire “eligible bank assets” which are essentially impaired land and development loans (and associated loans).
On introducing the draft legislation back in September 2009, the Minister indicated that his expectation was that NAMA will purchase loans with a book value of approximately €77 billion for a consideration of approximately €54 billion. Obviously these figures are dramatic in the context of Ireland’s relatively small economy and the comprehensive nature of the powers afforded to NAMA reflects the complexity of the government’s proposed scheme.
William Fry has produced a guide outlining what you need to know about the National Asset Management Agency (“NAMA”). Please use our Key Contacts for this article to receive a copy of this guide.
