Results 5,941-5,960 of 26,430 for speaker:David Cullinane

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (17 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: No, I merely wanted to put on the record that there was a discussion between Mr. Neporent's company and NAMA in respect of Cerberus's engagement with Brown Rudnick. Brown Rudnick obviously was a difficulty for it because of its relationship with PIMCO and Mr. Cushnahan. Mr. Neporent stated that it never mentioned Frank Cushnahan to him when he had a conversation with it. My point is that...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: I thank Mr. Long for coming here today. Reading through the Comptroller and Auditor General's report on the loan sales strategy, there seems to be confusion at board level about how to handle the PIMCO approach and what type of loan sale strategy the board should have adopted. I will go through different elements of the report. On page 63, the report states:The loan sale process undertaken...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: Paragraph 4.6 on that page indicates:In October 2013, the Board approved a NAMA executive proposal to explore the possible disposal of the loans of the Project Eagle debtors to PIMCO... The paper presented to the Board for that meeting noted... "...in line with our Board policy... will only be recommending the sale subject to an open marketing process". That was in October 2013 and the board...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: In December 2013, two months later, the report indicates:when the NAMA executive sought Board approval for Project Eagle, it did not recommend an open marketing process. Instead, it sought guidance from the Board as to how to respond to PIMCO’s continuing request that it be granted exclusivity. An objective reading of that, from what I can see, is that in October it was very clear it...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: That is not the question. In October 2013, it was clear it had to be an open marketing process but in December it did not recommend an open marketing process. There is talk about continuing requests from PIMCO. How did it go from an open marketing process to not being an open marketing process? Paragraph 4.9 indicates there would be a limited, focused and time-bound open marketing process.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: We will get to the competition part of it later because I have questions on that. The reading of the report suggests there were certainly discussions - perhaps robust discussions - at board level as to what type of marketing process and loan sales strategy there should be because of the approach or maybe pressure from PIMCO. It mentions continuing requests from PIMCO. It was not just one...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: Mr. Long can see there was a possibility the board may have shifted its position, maybe because of pressure from PIMCO.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: I thank Mr. Long. I will be the judge of that and we will ask the NAMA representatives those questions when they come in. Paragraph 4.10 states:The paper presented by the NAMA executive for the Board meeting on 8 January 2014 proposed a plan that involved the immediate appointment of loan sale advisors. I assume that was Lazard.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: Paragraph 4.11 indicates:The Board minutes for the meeting on 8 January 2014 recorded that its key priorities were to obtain the optimum price and to conduct an open marketing sales process... the marketing strategy should be "appropriate, focused, time bound... an appropriate marketing approach, to undertake marketing to suitable targeted bidders, to make a recommendation in relation to the...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: Has Mr. Long seen the letter from Fortress given to this committee?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: It expressed some concerns relating to constraints put in. When it was asked the rationale for making a bid below the reserve price, it indicated one of the problems was that it could only make a cash bid and there were restrictions with the bid not being syndicated or finance pre-bid, which was problematic for Fortress. Does that raise any concern for Mr. Long?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: With respect, if Fortress was told it had to be an unconditional bid, that is Fortress's understanding of the process. Whether it was said to Lazard was irrelevant as it was an unconditional bid that could not be syndicated or financed pre-bid.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: Who were the last two bidders in the game?

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: Hold on for a second. They were the last two bidders. The witness speaks about competitive tension.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: One of the two bidders left standing was not approached by Lazard at all. It approached Lazard.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: Why did Lazard not approach Fortress? We felt there were other bidders who had better access to capital who would, if you like, cope better with the fact that one of the requirements of the process-----

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: How could it have been a competitive situation when, in Mr. Long's words, one of the two bidders left standing was not in the same position to make the same sort of bid as other bidders? That is what Mr. Long is saying. How could it have been a competitive process? First, if they were not approached by Lazard and they approached it, the reason Lazard did not approach them is that it did...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: -----or ability to put in an appropriate bid. They also talked about the conditionality that was imposed that was a difficulty for them. That is what I am trying to get at, if there were only two bidders left and one of them approached Lazard and not the other way around.

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: I have that point. I have limited time and I have a number of other questions. Mr. Long was asked earlier by Teachta Catherine Murphy about the rationale for limitations in terms of the loan sale strategy, and he said that was a good question, the fact that PIMCO made an approach made that a very relevant factor in regard to the board's position on that, that the board wanted to have a...

Public Accounts Committee: Special Report No. 94 of the Comptroller and Auditor General: National Asset Management Agency Sale of Project Eagle (Resumed) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: The last line of paragraph 4.14 in the reports states, "The Board agreed that a lower fee should be paid to Lazard if PIMCO emerged as the preferred bidder". That suggests there was potentially a bias towards PIMCO. That it would have been cheaper for it. The whole language seems to suggest that there was a bias towards PIMCO.