High Court order completes bank merger
Two of Ireland’s banks were merged today into a new institution to be named the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC).
Under a High Court order, the assets and borrowings of Irish Nationwide Building Society have been officially transferred to the nationalised Anglo Irish Bank.
Gerry McGinn, chief executive of Irish Nationwide, described the move as a seamless transfer after months of hard work by the employees at the lender.
“We look forward to continuing to work in the new merged entity with our colleagues in Anglo Irish Bank as together we manage the orderly work out of the business under the auspices of the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation,” he said.
“We remain very thankful to the Irish government and taxpayer for their support through this process.”
Under restructuring plans, €3.6bn in deposits were already transferred from Irish Nationwide – along with 230 employees – to Permanent TSB in February.
In a statement, an Irish Nationwide spokesman said Anglo would now take control of the lender’s €8.9m commercial loan book – 708 loans under the control of toxic assets agency NAMA – and the remaining commercial banking operations – around €0.6bn in loans – as well as its mortgage and deposit business.
This includes around 175 deposit accounts totaling €7.5m and about 15,000 mortgage accounts with balances more than €2.9bn.
“Under this transfer all mortgage holders previously with Irish Nationwide have now transferred to Anglo,” said the spokesman.
“Mortgage customers will continue to have the same payment obligations in line with existing terms and conditions, and mortgage accounts will transfer with existing terms and conditions.”
Some 217 Irish Nationwide employees will also move over to the newly-formed institution.
The doomed building society has appointed commercial property advisors DTZ Sherry FitzGerald to come up with a plan to sell off or let properties in its ownership – including 48 former branches, its head office on Dublin’s Grand Canal and some residential properties.
The estimated value of the portfolio is €68m, based on an internal valuation in November 2010.
