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News : Irish Last Updated: Sep 1, 2009 - 8:15:33 AM


Lenihan says NAMA valuation will not be based on "bubble" prices; “risk-sharing mechanism” with the banks planned
By Finfacts Team
Aug 31, 2009 - 4:16:12 PM

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Department of Finance, Dublin.
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan said today that the success of the planned 'bad bank" NAMA  - -the National Asset Management Agency - - is not based on any assumption of a return to the recent "bubble" prices for property. He said the Government may take majority stakes in Irish banks covered by the Government guarantee scheme if they need additional capital after loans are transferred to NAMA.
He also said there will be a “risk-sharing mechanism” with the banks.

Lenihan was presenting an opening statement to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, where he is responding to questions on the proposed legislation to establish NAMA.

The Minister said it was a "myth" that the amount NAMA would pay for troubled loans would compensate them for a recovery in values back to what he called "the unsustainable peak property prices" of 2007. The Minister added that NAMA would not be paying anything other than current market value for some assets, where this was appropriate. But he said that NAMA would adjust the value of assets to reflect the fact that they were currently at "crisis values."

Lenihan said paying excess values, would not be countenanced by Government and would not pass muster with the EU Commission whose approval for the valuation process will have to be obtained.

He said at the outset it is important to remember that, based on information supplied by the financial institutions, the borrower typically provided about 25% of the purchase price for the underlying asset and borrowed the other 75%. Thus, in the event of repossession, prices have to fall by more than 25% from the peak of the market before the bank makes any loss at all. Lenihan said we are all aware that prices have fallen more than that but the first 25% loss will be the borrowers and this is being lost in the commentary by some contributors to the NAMA debate.

The valuation process will operate as follows:

1. Independent valuers will value the security for the loan --  and the security may often be more than the property purchased. Valuation will be in accordance with recognised red book valuation standards, European valuation standards, or International valuation standards, as appropriate.
2. Following the valuation of the security, and in line with the Commission’s guidance, NAMA will adjust the value to reflect the fact that the market for this security is currently illiquid but will not remain so. This recognises that these assets are at crisis values and that the fundamental long term value having regard to cash flows and longer time horizons is appropriate.
3. The adjustment will be based on a detailed assessment of market indicators such as the Department of the Environment Housing Statistics Bulletins as well as broader macroeconomic statistics from sources such as the CSO and the Central Bank. It will also have regard to data in relation to property yields and capital value movements in the past.
4. This property valuation information as adjusted will then form the basis for the calculation of the loan value.
5. The loan will be valued based on current mark to market pricing to establish the loans current market value.
6. The loan will then be priced by reference to NAMA’s cost of capital to calculate its long term economic value. The overall value will be adjusted by reference to adjustment factors and expert reports set out in sections 58, 59 and 63 of the draft bill.

However, it is very likely that part or the whole of the deposit paid in respect of many loans, was financed by another loan.

SEE: Loan-to-value discussion on the Irish Economy Blog for more information.

ECB Opinion on NAMA - -  issued Monday.

“Some institutions may need capital after they have transferred loans to NAMA,” Lenihan said but he ruled out a blanket nationalisation of the country's banks.

“This will increase the State’s ownership in these banks and in some cases that may result in a majority shareholding,” he said.

He also said he expects NAMA to contain a “risk-sharing mechanism.”

“I have from the outset said that, down the line should NAMA be faced with losses, consideration would be given to the imposition of a levy or some equivalent measure,” he said.

The Minister said the an assumption that the banks would benefit commercially from the establishment of NAMA was not correct,"and has never been proposed by Government".

“I expect NAMA to make gains over its life but I am open to examining other risk sharing mechanisms,” he said and added that  any suggestion of a default on senior bank debt would be "catastrophic."

“Senior bondholders are guaranteed under the Government guarantee scheme and any suggestion that those parties should be invited to consider a reduction in the amount repayable to them would have catastrophic effects for the banking system and the funding of the Irish State,” the Minister said.

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