Coaching given to keep assets secret

Financial officers for religious orders were coached on how they could keep property assets secret because their members typically had different names before their ordination.

At the height of the boom the Association of Bursars of Religious Institutes was told it was preferable to have property vested in names of some individual members rather than in charitable trusts or companies.

The advice said if these members used their baptismal name rather than the one they took when taking their vows, it would help keep the holding from scrutiny.

This approach was the preferred option of a solicitor from the Arthur O’Hagan firm who gave a speech to the association’s annual conference in 2007.

Keeping properties away from the Commissioners of Charitable Donations and Bequests by using otherwise unconnected names made it an uncomplicated option, the speech stated. The association with the parent congregation would not be obvious, it said.

“On the face of it the religious named will appear as absolute or beneficial owners,” the speech stated.

The bursars were told if this option was pursued the order could protect itself by getting individual members to sign separate declarations on who ultimately owned the asset.

To avoid scrutiny, the advice was not to draw attention to this agreement.

“This declaration, which of course should not be registered in the Registry of Deeds or Land Registry... so that the declaration will be kept off the title, will be valid nonetheless as evidence of the contents of the declaration.

“If such a declaration was registered then it would become known to a purchaser’s lawyer... and resort would have to be made to the Charity Commissioners for consent to sale,” it said.

This approach also gave orders the autonomy to dispose of assets at will.

Two other options were discussed that involved putting the asset in a company structure or a trust, but the disadvantages of these were highlighted rather than the advantages.

The advice was one of a small number of conference papers and speeches available to religious orders through the website of L&P Investment Services.

L&P did not prepare the advice but has a portal carrying a handful of instructional documents from conferences in which it played a part.

The company specialises in managing financial assets for religious orders and charities both in Ireland and overseas. Its clients include many of the religious orders currently engaged with the Government on the renegotiation of the €1.47bn bill for redress of child abuse.

Its managing director Shane Cowley acts as a consultant for the orders and has attended a number of meetings as part of delegations for individual delegations.