Results 20,761-20,780 of 26,718 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) (22 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: But Mr. Long was never made aware of this. I want to get back to this later.

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 are concerned also. I will proceed in a moment to the conflicts of interest as to when Lazard was informed of this. If Mr. Long was concerned and surprised, he should note the information would have been valuable for Lazard to have at some point during the process. Does Mr. Long accept 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: Paragraph 4.17 of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report states, "Strict confidentiality was to be maintained and potential bidders were to be prohibited from contacting the debtors."

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 would imagine that one of Mr. Long's concerns is that we now know from the Comptroller and Auditor General's report that Mr. Cushnahan actually had an association with 50% of the debtors of the portfolio. This was a point of which Mr. Long was not made aware. Was he made aware of 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: He was not aware of it and he is the loan sale adviser. Does that concern him?

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: He is aware of it now. Much of what he is saying mirrors what he said when he knew what was happening in real time. He is still sticking to the view that it was a competitive process with no difficulties. Let me refer him to page 82 of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. Mr. Long is a professional. I have no doubt that he tried to do his job and that he did it to the highest...

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: He can provide evidence, papers or letters to NAMA based only on the information he has. Is that correct?

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: Page 82 states that Lazard, on 2 April, provided a letter to the board of NAMA: "In its professional advisory judgment, given NAMA's objectives, the process had been appropriate ..." The process had become compromised by virtue of Mr. Cushnahan's involvement with Brown Rudnick and Tughans and their transfer from PIMCO to Cerberus. Given that Lazard did not have that information, Mr. Long is...

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 would Mr. Long characterise it if he did not have the information and was hardly clear in his information.

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 was incomplete. I am saying that Lazard had professional responsibility to ensure the integrity of the process and transparency. I refer to what I was saying about the terms of reference. Lazard had to ensure that the process was transparent. Very close to the end, on 2 April, it was signed off that the process had been appropriate. Would Mr. Long still hold that view given what he...

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 am not asking about NAMA. I am asking 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: That is one part of it but Mr. Long was involved in a number of exchanges with NAMA in respect of the letter of assurance sought from Cerberus. That was in connection with the organisation's association with Brown Rudnick and Tughans. At that point, was Mr. Long aware of the conflicts of interest with PIMCO. I refer to the fact that there had been a success fee with Brown Rudnick, Tughans...

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 pretty valuable information not to have when Lazard was trying to advise them on their letter of assurance. Had Lazard been advised at that point that Brown Rudnick and Tughans were actually in a relationship with Frank Cushnahan, and that Frank Cushnahan had an association with debtors? NAMA knew this. Why did it not share that information with Lazard? I cannot ask Mr. Long to...

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 is not just a matter of valuable information. Those concerned were essentially trying to retrofit the response from Cerberus. Mr. Long's communication was to try to line up the ducks and ensure that everything was satisfactory. They had the full information. Mr. Long did not, yet he was very handsomely paid to make sure this process was transparent. We are trying to get to the bottom...

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.

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: Could I seek clarity on one point, as it is very important?

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: Nobody is asking Mr. Long to speak about issues that he was not aware of or which predated his involvement in the process. In terms of paragraph 4.17 of the Comptroller and Auditor General's report and the objective of prohibiting contact or association with debtors, the point is that NAMA became aware of an association with debtors and a success fee that involved Mr. Cushnahan. Given the...

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: I am not interested in doing so at all. I agree it is important to obtain clarification from the Controller and Auditor General on a number of items of correspondence we have got to determine whether the information is new to him. The Fortress letter states that the bid process requires an unconditional bid that "could not be syndicated or financed pre-bid".

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: Perfect. Are we in public session?

Public Accounts Committee: Business of Committee (17 Nov 2016)

David Cullinane: Could we also get clarification from the Comptroller and Auditor General as to whether he was aware, before the PIMCO letter emerged last week, that Tughans, Brown Rudnick and Frank Cushnahan approached PIMCO?