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The Government should step in to prevent AIB's loan sale, the Oireachtas Finance Committee concluded on Thursday. Committee chair John McGuinness said that people who have been badly treated by the sale of non-performing loans to a vulture fund, to use the committee as a forum to tell their story and encourage others not to suffer in silence.
“The government cannot wash its hands of the AIB loan sale,” IFA president Joe Healy said. “Short-term debt recovery approach is damaging as the repayment capacity of the business is not considered.
"There is a loss of confidence in the banks among the farming community. They have to recognise this and provide all possible solutions to a borrower before the sale of loans to vulture funds.”
Enforcement
IFA farm business chair Martin Stapleton called for enforcement by the Financial Regulator, including information on the loan owners, the number of loans they own and the profile of borrowers.
There must be accountability to the Minister for Finance and to the Houses of the Oireachtas
“Borrowers must have the option to engage directly with the loan owners, and not only through third party agencies. The current system of employing asset managers as intermediaries is a complete failure, as funds are instructing the asset managers to recover par debt plus costs as a sole option.
"There must be accountability to the Minister for Finance and to the Houses of the Oireachtas.”
Profits from these transactions are leaving this country tax-free, he said.
Local bank managers, who would know the individuals involved and their capacity to repay loans, are being superseded by the new method of selling loans from 'head office', added Padraic Kissane, director of Padraic Kissane Financial Services.
SHARING OPTIONS: