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IBRC Liquidation

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 3 October 2013

Thursday, 3 October 2013

Questions (75, 76, 77)

Pearse Doherty

Question:

75. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the reason he has introduced a statutory instrument that will specifically conceal the names of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Bank Resolution Corporation creditors; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [41639/13]

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Pearse Doherty

Question:

76. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance the benefit to the taxpayer of the former Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Bank Resolution Corporation from his introduction of a statutory instrument that will conceal the names of creditors and further delay the requirement for the outstanding Anglo Irish Bank statement of affairs which is now seven months late. [41640/13]

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Pearse Doherty

Question:

77. Deputy Pearse Doherty asked the Minister for Finance if any precedent exists for his legal involvement in the concealing of names in the statement of affairs at Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Bank Resolution Corporation. [41641/13]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 75 to 77, inclusive, together.

Section 224 of the Companies Act, 1963, as it applies in modified form to the liquidation of IBRC pursuant to Section 10 of the IBRC Act, requires the directors of IBRC, unless “the Minister thinks it fit to order otherwise and so orders”, to prepare a Statement of Affairs in respect of IBRC (a “Statement of Affairs”) within 21 days of the date of the liquidation or such later date as I may specify. I have issued two Statutory Instruments (‘SIs’) in relation to the timing and content of the Statement of Affairs to be prepared by the directors of IBRC. The first SI issued on 6th August 2013 (SI 304 of 2013) and a second SI issued on 18th September 2013 (SI 358 of 2013). Both of these SIs were necessary to facilitate requests made on behalf of the directors of IBRC in relation to the timing and content of the Statement of Affairs which they were required to produce.

The effect of the two SIs was to extend the date of submission of the Statement of Affairs out to the 30th September 2013 and also to waive the requirement to include the personal details of debtors and depositors of the bank as at 7th February 2013 in the Statement of Affairs. No precedent exists as these are the first orders to be made under Section 224 of the Companies Act, 1963, as it applies in modified form to the liquidation of IBRC pursuant to Section 10 of the IBRC Act.

I am advised that it was not feasible for the directors of IBRC to prepare a Statement of Affairs for IBRC within 21 days of the appointment of the special liquidators due to the complexity of the balance sheet of IBRC on liquidation and due to the amount of work required to be completed by the directors in preparing the Statement of Affairs. The liquidation of IBRC is arguably the largest and most complex liquidation of a company in the history of the State and I am satisfied that it was simply not feasible for the directors to complete the Statement of Affairs within the period specified in the Companies Act and for that reason I agreed to extend the submission date of the Statement of Affairs to the 30th September 2013.

I also agreed that it would not be appropriate or necessary for the purposes of the orderly winding-up of IBRC for the directors to disclose personal details of the bank’s approximately 2,500 depositors in the Statement of Affairs, as there would be a risk that such details, if they were included in the Statement of Affairs, could quite possibly make their way into the public domain. I further agreed that it would be inappropriate and unnecessary for the purposes of the orderly winding-up of IBRC to require the disclosure of personal information of the approximately 17,000 mortgage holders as well as other debtors of the bank as part of the Statement of Affairs. There is a risk that such information, if disclosed in the Statement of Affairs, could become publicly available and in my view this would not be in the interests of the orderly winding up of IBRC or the maximisation of the value IBRC’s assets.

The directors of IBRC remain obliged to produce a Statement of Affairs which will provide a detailed list of the assets and liabilities of the bank at the time of liquidation and the directors remain required to clearly set out the amounts owing by IBRC to secured, preferential and unsecured creditors at the time of liquidation. Information on aggregate amounts owing by debtors of the bank, and owing by the bank to depositors, upon liquidation will still be included in the Statement of Affairs along with estimates of the recoverable value of the assets.

It is also important to note that the personal information concerning depositors and debtors which will not now be included in the Statement of Affairs is information which is already fully available to the Special Liquidators of the bank. I made the decision to issue both the SIs following discussions and consultations between my officials and the directors of IBRC and the Special Liquidators of IBRC, who had no objection to the terms of the SIs. The exclusion of personal information concerning depositors and debtors of the bank from the Statement of Affairs will not therefore have any adverse impact on the orderly winding-up of the bank’s affairs. It is also important to note that the date of submission of the Statement of Affairs has not been negatively impacted by the introduction of the SIs.

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