IL&P director lashes recapitalisation

The newest member of the Irish Life & Permanent has accused the Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan, of acting improperly and trying to get his hands on the company’s profitable insurance business.

Irish Life and Permanent Group Holdings (IL&P) yesterday confirmed the appointment of Piotr Skoczylas as a non-executive director to its board.

A vocal critic of the Government’s recapitalisation of IL&P, Mr Skoczylas took a High Court challenge to the Government’s recapitalisation of the company.

Mr Skoczylas remains opposed to any Government involvement in IL&P. He said he believes the recapitalisation of the bank was an illegal move. He said: “The recapitalisation is, in my view, an illegal act that needs to be opposed.

“The minister for finance wants to put his hands on a profitable part of the company, the insurance business. There is no justification for that. The company is and always will be a viable business.”

Mr Skoczylas is managing director and fund manager at Scotchstone Capital Fund, which bought €200,000 worth of IL&P shares in 2010. He has criticised the coverage of the latest annual report by IL&P. The coverage focused on the €1.4bn set aside by IL&P as a provision to cover losses on their mortgage book.

“There are a lot of misconceptions about the company in the public and in the media. The company made provisions for loan losses, essentially in the residential area; €1.4bn provision was made but the actual realised loss was €3m. Provisions are 46,000% larger than the losses,” he said.

Mr Skoczylas accused the media and reporting in relation to the bank of bias in the Government’s favour.

“There is a bias towards the Government to an absurd level through coercion or intimidation,” he said.

Mr Skoczylas also said that, irrespective of whether the rest of the board agreed with his views or not, having a dissenter on the board can only improve debate.

“One last thought: if all of the directors are in agreement, the consensus will form a powerful voice from the board. If there isn’t consensus, we’ll have healthy debate that will lead to better decisions,” he said.