Results 1,061-1,080 of 4,350 for speaker:Bobby Aylward

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)

Bobby Aylward: PIMCO had a head start of almost 12 months on everyone else. It became involved in October but we now learn it was looking at the portfolio in April. A semi-open tender commenced for a few selected companies. Why was it open for only three weeks, which seems to be a very short period? Why was it confined to three weeks when other companies were showing an interest, for example, Fortress...

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)

Bobby Aylward: PIMCO had obviously been approached and was aware that the portfolio was coming on board.

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)

Bobby Aylward: Why was a directive given on no syndicated or financial bids? We only learned of this today. Will Ms Finan expand on that? Why was this directive given?

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)

Bobby Aylward: We heard today about a directive that there should be no syndicated or financial bids, in other words, the tender was confined again. Why was this directive given by NAMA?

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)

Bobby Aylward: We only learned of this today.

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)

Bobby Aylward: That is why I am asking the question. Does Mr. Mulcahy know anything about syndicated or financial bids?

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)

Bobby Aylward: If two or three companies came together, they could offer more than PIMCO or anyone else.

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)

Bobby Aylward: Perhaps I am reading it wrong.

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)

Bobby Aylward: Mr. Rowntree, who was a witness here, seems to have contradicted Ms Finan. He said he was able to glean from information that was given out at meetings of the Northern Ireland Advisory Committee the identity of companies that were involved in the Project Eagle sale. He had no problem identifying them whereas Ms Finan said that no information whatever was given out at the NIAC meetings. Mr....

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)

Bobby Aylward: According to Mr. Rowntree, working papers were distributed at the Northern Ireland Advisory Committee and taken back again and these were not for public consumption. Why was that? There must have been important information or something in the papers distributed on any particular day which had to be kept private or secret or whatever word one would like to use.

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)

Bobby Aylward: It is obvious Mr. Rowntree's interpretation differs from that of Ms Finan. Does Ms Finan believe, and I include Mr. Cushnahan in this, that the whole process was somehow tainted and that the reason we are investigating it is that there was some inside deal or knowledge coming from inside that helped certain individuals to gain advantage?

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)

Bobby Aylward: Ms Finan thinks it was not possible that it could have happened.

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)

Bobby Aylward: I welcome Mr. Neporent and I thank him for crossing the Atlantic to be a witness here. He is clarifying many issues we are trying to follow up on. This is an investigation and we are trying to get clarification on what is happening. In hindsight, is Mr. Neporent happy that the purchase price gave good value for money?

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)

Bobby Aylward: Mr. Neporent said 50% of the assets were Northern Ireland based. In the loan book, were the values in Northern Ireland higher than the values in Southern Ireland and the rest of the UK or wherever the other assets were?

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)

Bobby Aylward: Was Mr. Neporent worried about it because of the political situation and the relationship with NAMA? Did he understand all that when he made the offer? Was he worried about rolling out these assets and how they would work out in the future?

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)

Bobby Aylward: Did Mr. Neporent know about Brexit coming down the line? Was it spoken about? Was he worried about the consequences if the UK voted to leave the EU? Was it a consideration?

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)

Bobby Aylward: Was he aware of Brexit coming down the line?

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)

Bobby Aylward: Most NAMA representatives said the same. As has been said already, £15 million is a lot of money. Mr. Neporent said, in hindsight, if he had the choice again he might not give them that much money. In hindsight, if he were back again, and if he were paying by the hour, what value would he put on the information they gave him? I know it is hypothetical.

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)

Bobby Aylward: I understand. I am asking because £15 million is a lot of money and I wonder if it was value for money. Would it have been better to have paid by the hour, as was the case for other advisers, rather than paying the lump sum of £15 million?

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)

Bobby Aylward: When Cerberus came in to bid, in February, was Mr. Neporent aware that PIMCO had originally offered £1.3 billion for the portfolio, that it had wanted to have a closed arrangement with NAMA, and that NAMA refused it and wanted to put it on the open market or on a closed market with named companies? Was he aware that the £1.3 billion was the original offer from PIMCO and was that...