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Friday, October 12 08:23:38

Former NAMA executive Enda Farrell sent information, allegedly misappropriated from the State agency, in emails to professionals in Dublin, London, Paris, Berlin and Amsterdam, he has told the Commercial Court in documents. Among those emailed were executives at the property investment division of French insurance giant Axa and US company Fidelity International, two of the world's biggest investment groups. The insurance company's property division is the largest real-estate fund in Europe, managing assets of more than E42 billion.

Fidelity is the world's fifth-biggest property fund manager. Nama is claiming in a Commercial Court case that information about loans and the ownership of properties supporting those loans were unlawfully deployed in the commercial property market. Mr Farrell, a property portfolio analyst with Nama until he resigned in February 2012, said he forwarded emails to his wife, Alice Kramer, who worked in Ernst Young advising on compliance and she sent the emails on to her personal Yahoo email account. The Irish Times

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The European Commission's representative on the troika, Istvan Szekely, has denied that there is a "democratic deficit" in the Republic as the result of the conditions attached to the its bailout programme. "The programme's main goal is to restore confidence in policies and help get Ireland get back on its feet so it can get financing on its own from the markets," Mr Szekely told a summit on leadership organised by employers' group Ibec.

"It is important to point out this conditionality is negotiated with the Government," he said. "There is no democratic deficit here." The man known in political circles by the nickname "The Tall Hungarian" said the troika's bailout programme was not fixed, but could "adjust to realities" as economic circumstances change. "The shared goal is for the troika to get out," he said. "So if we do our job right, we lose our job." Mr Szekely, whose official title is country director at the European Commission's directorate general for economic and financial affairs, said further job losses were likely in some sectors before others could be created in areas "more attuned to the market".

Ireland's successful export sector was not creating enough jobs for people on the Live Register, he said, raising the dangers of long-term unemployment. "I think we can all agree that we cannot afford a lost generation." Difficulties faced by businesses trying to access credit would be addressed as part of the troika's next review of how Ireland's structural reforms were progressing, he indicated. On the impact of the fiscal measures imposed following the implementation of the bailout programme, Mr Szekely admitted "more needs to be done" to protect the most vulnerable. The Irish Times

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State-owned Permanent TSB Group Holdings is set to cut up to E180m off its debt after buying back part of its own mortgage debt from investors at a discount. The saving will come after the bank made an offer to "buy back" up to E1.2bn of bonds, with lenders offered minimum prices ranging from 33c in the euro to 75.5c in the euro by the bank, if they accepted the offer by October 5.

The offer was made on September 13 to buy back bonds secured on about E1.2bn of mortgage debt issued through PTSB's Fastnet 2 funding vehicle. Sources involved said PTSB expects to save between E150m and E180m as a result of the offer, according to the Bloomberg newswire. Results of the offer are due to be published today. Permanent TSB was nationalised last year, and was the country's biggest mortgage provider in the boom. The latest offer to bondholders is voluntary. Any investor wishing to retain their holding was free to do so under the terms offered. The Irish Independent

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The new personal insolvency regime will be up and running by February 1 next year, guest of honour Taoiseach Enda Kenny told the annual Dublin Chamber of Commerce dinner last night. He said the new regime will give a second chance to those "suffocated" by debt. He added that Ireland's two pillar banks, AIB and Bank of Ireland, were not doing enough for business lending in Ireland.

He warned: "The issue of bank debt will be pursued with great interest and vigour at next week's EU leaders' summit." The Taoiseach, referring to the EU June 29 Agreement on bank debt, said: "It is of fundamental interest to the people of the EU that when they decide to sign off on decisions, they have to respect them." Greencore boss Patrick Coveney told guests the debate about whether or not banks are lending is a "dialogue of the deaf" with mistrust on all sides. The dinner was attended by a capacity 1,800 guests and was held at the National Convention Centre in Dublin. The Irish Independent