As part of the Government’s decision on 7^th February 2013 to appoint Special Liquidators to IBRC, it was decided that the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) would acquire any loans which were unsold after the Special Liquidators had completed a loan valuation and sales process. NAMA has established a special purpose vehicle (National Asset Resolution Ltd) to acquire and manage unsold IBRC loans. The Special Liquidators’ loan valuation process is currently underway and it is expected that the loan sales process will begin in September.

Following a competitive tendering process which was launched in March and the subsequent evaluation of responses received, NAMA today announces the selection of two service providers as its preferred bidders to manage loan portfolios that it may acquire from the Special Liquidators:

• NAMA has selected Certus as its preferred bidder to provide services on the portfolio of commercial property loans, residential investment and development loans and business banking loans which it may acquire from the Special Liquidators. This portfolio could potentially comprise loans with an aggregate nominal par debt value of €22 billion, depending on the outcome of the Special Liquidators’ sales process.
•  NAMA has selected a consortium comprised of Pepper Asset Servicing and Serco as its preferred bidder to provide services on the portfolio of personal loans, principally residential mortgage loans which it may acquire from the Special Liquidators.  This portfolio could potentially comprise loans with an aggregate nominal par debt value of €1.8 billion, depending on the extent to which loans are sold by the Special Liquidators.

The appointments are subject to agreement on contractual terms.  

It is envisaged that NAMA will operate in close conjunction with both service providers and, in the case of the commercial loans portfolio, this will include the provision to the service provider of credit, legal, treasury, finance and accounting services.

Current portfolio

The portfolios to be acquired from the Special Liquidators later in 2013 are separate from the portfolio of NAMA loans which was being managed by IBRC on behalf of NAMA prior to the appointment of the Special Liquidators in February. On this portfolio, the Special Liquidators/IBRC currently provides primary servicing[1]for NAMA loans with nominal balances of €41 billion. For €5.1 billion of this, the Special Liquidators/IBRC also provides special servicing[2]in the management of over 300 debtors under a framework of delegated authority from NAMA.

The management of this portfolio is currently in transition from the Special Liquidators/IBRC to Capita Asset Services, following the appointment of the latter by NAMA as back-up servicer of the portfolio in March. NAMA and Capita are currently engaged in the recruitment of staff, including ex-IBRC staff, to manage this portfolio.  It has been agreed that the transition of services from the Special Liquidators/IBRC to Capita will take place in early August.

By the time the transition to the new arrangements with Capita has fully completed and the new loan portfolios have been acquired, it is envisaged that offers of employment will have been made to a significant number of ex-IBRC employees by one or other of NAMA , Capita, Certus or Pepper/Serco.  However, pending completion of the loan sales process, it is not yet possible to estimate the employee numbers involved.   

[1]Primary servicing, also known as loan administration services, comprises the administrative and operational activities associated with the management of loans, including the processing and charging of loan interest and fees.

[2]Special servicing is also known as case management or relationship management and involves on-going interaction with debtors and the assets securing their loans with the objective of maximising the cash realised from loans and assets. 

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