Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 6 May 2015

Committee of Inquiry into the Banking Crisis

Nexus Phase

Mr. Richie Boucher:

In the context of, yes, I believed it was. We made an informed decision. And so I was the chief executive, with the chairman I recommended to our board we participated. I felt that, going back to the issue, and again it was partially influenced by my previous experience in work-outs, is basically unless all the keys are put in the middle of the table, you really find it very hard to work out your part of a deal. It all has to be brought together. It all has to be dealt with in a certain way. I thought ... I said at the time, when I was asked by shareholders and investors, I felt it was a good solution. It provided liquidity. It brought everything into the middle. It enabled people with expertise to look at the ... to forget about an individual bank's situation, how it would work out generally. So I felt that ... I recommended to our shareholders that NAMA ... we participate in NAMA. I said at the time that I thought NAMA could make money out of what it ... but, you know, we sell assets, we accept a price for it. If other people make money that's business. I'm happy. A good deal is a deal where both sides walk away happy.