NAMA to take over €30bn loans by Christmas

UP to €30 billion in loans of the top 50 property developers in the country will be taken over by the National Assets Management Agency by Christmas, it emerged last night.

Among the loans NAMA will acquire will be €22bn for British properties, mainly around the M25 motorway in London, an area suffering less than others in the recession because of the 2012 Olympics.

Meanwhile jail terms could be handed down to those proven to have been involved in wrong-doing at scandal-hit Anglo Irish Bank, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan indicated yesterday.