Yesterday, the 166 deputies in the Dail returned from their summer break and you won’t be surprised that the recent shenanigans at NAMA were to the fore of some robust questioning of the minister nominally responsible for the Agency, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan. Some of the Parliamentary Questions (PQs) have become available though all should be published online later today.
Enda Farrell is a former NAMA portfolio manager and NAMA has seemingly accused him of removing data and information from the Agency without authorisation. NAMA has said that it has reported the alleged breach to the Data Protection Commissioner, the Gardai and of course NAMA has taken legal action against Enda Farrell and his wife Alice Kramer which has been transferred to the Commercial Court division of the High Court. NAMA is not commenting on these matters saying that the matter generally is sub judice. Neither Enda Farrell nor Alice Kramer has apparently released any statement on the matter, though in relation to an unrelated matter Enda Farrell has claimed that NAMA was aware of his intention to buy a property owned by a NAMA debtor.
What did we find out yesterday?
(1) Since the start of this year, 15 employees have resigned from NAMA, of which Enda Farrell will be one. This statistic was revealed in a question that appeared unrelated to the recent events at NAMA, but it gives a sense of the number of former employees with sensitive NAMA information which are no longer working for the Agency. Of course any departing employee since December 2009 may possess sensitive NAMA information. As an aside, NAMA has recruited 28 new employees this year.
(2) To the best of NAMA’s knowledge, no assets have been sold to companies, which have employed departing NAMA employees but NAMA does stress that it doesn’t always know the identity of a departing employees’ new employer.
(3) NAMA “is aware” of only one sale of property belonging to NAMA or its debtors to an “employee, their family or associates” and that is the sale of the Lucan property to Enda Farrell.
(4) NAMA claims “that it has procedures in place restricting access to sensitive information between different business areas and within specific business areas. Access to such documents is restricted to essential personnel.”
(5) It seems the main safeguard that NAMA has to prevent unauthorised use of information is legislation – the National Treasury Management Agency Act 1990, the NAMA Act, the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 as amended by the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 and the Official Secrets Act 1963 to which NAMA staff are subject. So if you are convicted of contravening these statutory obligations, you face “a fine not exceeding €5,000,000 or imprisonment to a term not exceeding 5 years or both”
(6) NAMA is considering changes to its safeguards and procedures arising from the Deloitte investigation.
The questions available at this time have come from the Sinn Fein finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty. No doubt other PQs have been posed by other politicians and parties and if new information crops up when these PQs become available, it will be posted as an update here. Here are the PQs in full.
Deputy Pearse Doherty: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of employees that have resigned from the National Asset Management Agency since 1 January 2012; and the number of new employees engaged by NAMA from that date..
Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan :I am informed by NAMA that 28 new members of staff have joined NAMA since 1 January 2012 and that 15 members of staff have resigned.
Deputy Pearse Doherty: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will lay before the Houses of the Oireachtas a copy of the National Asset Management Agency’s procedures and employment contract extracts which set out to deal with potential conflicts of interest, or the assurance that the use of confidential or privileged information garnered by employees in the course of their work at NAMA is not used for their personal benefit, or for the benefit of family or associates.
Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan : I am informed by NAMA that all of its officers are provided with a copy of the Code of Practice – Conduct of Officers of NAMA when they are assigned to NAMA and they are required to sign an undertaking that they have read, understood and will comply with it. This document, which is published on http://www.nama.ie, sets out in detail the obligations of officers of NAMA with respect to confidentiality and conflicts of interest including statutory obligations regarding confidentiality and use of information including their obligation under the Official Secrets Act 1963. The document is reviewed annually by the Board of NAMA and circulated annually to officers of NAMA, who are required to sign an undertaking on each occasion that they have read, understood and will comply with it. The Code was first approved by the Minister for Finance on 5 July 2010 and any changes made as a result of the Board’s annual review are also subject to the Minister’s approval.
In addition, those officers of NAMA who are holders of designated positions of employment under the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 as amended by the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 (“the Ethics Acts”) are notified in January each year of their obligations under the Ethics Acts.
NAMA requires its entire staff to complete a disclosure under Section 42 of the NAMA Act outlining all assets, liabilities and interests which they hold. Each employee is also required to inform the CEO of NAMA of any changes to their disclosure and to immediately inform the CEO of any matter that could raise a question about their suitability to act (or continue to act) as an officer of NAMA or that could result in an actual or potential conflict of interest with respect to their duties or obligations as an officer of NAMA
Deputy Pearse Doherty: To ask the Minister for Finance the number of properties that have been sold by the National Asset Management Agency, its receivers or debtors to NAMA employees, former NAMA employees, their families and associates, and the total value of such sales..
Deputy Pearse Doherty: To ask the Minister for Finance the consideration that has been given by the National Asset Management Agency to adopting practices from other State asset management agencies, such as the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which ban outright any dealings in agency property by employees.
Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan :I propose to take Questions 306 and 307 together.
I am informed by NAMA that it is aware of only one transaction involving the sale of property by a NAMA debtor to a former employee. After NAMA became aware of the particular transaction involved, it instructed its internal auditors, Deloitte, to carry out a comprehensive review of the transaction. The Deloitte review has established that the sale of the property was transacted at market value as the sale price was in accordance with an independent valuation at the time of the transaction. It found that the former employee did not disclose the transaction to NAMA at any time either prior to or following the transaction.
NAMA requires its entire staff to complete a disclosure under Section 42 of the NAMA Act outlining all assets, liabilities and interests which they hold. Each employee is also required to inform the CEO of NAMA of any changes to their disclosure and to immediately inform the CEO of any matter that could raise a question about their suitability to act (or continue to act) as an officer of NAMA or that could result in an actual or potential conflict of interest with respect to their duties or obligations as an officer of NAMA.
I am advised that the Board of NAMA is currently reviewing the Deloitte findings and, as part of that review, will consider whether there are any changes required to NAMA’s current compliance procedures
Deputy Pearse Doherty: To ask the Minister for Finance if any employees seconded by the National Treasury Management Agency to the National Asset Management Agency that have resigned from either organisation, and who have subsequently been engaged by organisations which have purchased property from NAMA, its receivers and developers or which have met with NAMA to express interest in the purchase of property..
Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan: I am informed by NAMA that it does not, in all cases, have information on the identity of employers who recruited staff following their resignation from the Agency as some former staff have taken up employment overseas. However, in cases where NAMA has such information, NAMA is satisfied that no sales transactions have taken place between the entities involved and NAMA, its debtors or receivers appointed by it.
The number of meetings between NAMA staff and entities involved in property financing, investment or development runs into hundreds per year. Many meetings between NAMA staff and external parties, of necessity, involve such parties expressing an interest in NAMA and its activities.
I am advised by NAMA that it has procedures in place restricting access to sensitive information between different business areas and within specific business areas. Access to such documents is restricted to essential personnel.
Deputy Pearse Doherty: To ask the Minister for Finance if any employees seconded by the National Treasury Management Agency to the National Asset Management Agency that have resigned from either organisation, and who have subsequently been engaged by organisations which have purchased property from NAMA, its receivers and developers or which have met with NAMA to express interest in the purchase of property..
Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan: I am informed by NAMA that it does not, in all cases, have information on the identity of employers who recruited staff following their resignation from the Agency as some former staff have taken up employment overseas. However, in cases where NAMA has such information, NAMA is satisfied that no sales transactions have taken place between the entities involved and NAMA, its debtors or receivers appointed by it.
The number of meetings between NAMA staff and entities involved in property financing, investment or development runs into hundreds per year. Many meetings between NAMA staff and external parties, of necessity, involve such parties expressing an interest in NAMA and its activities.
I am advised by NAMA that it has procedures in place restricting access to sensitive information between different business areas and within specific business areas. Access to such documents is restricted to essential personnel.
ah now here….
35 Forum Asian Realty Income II 31,465,969
50 Forum European Realty Income 24,846,259
http://www.nprf.ie/Publications/2012/NPRFReport2011.pdf
10% in Forum Funds,heavy allocation,who would have been in charge of that ?
The largest concentration of property help by YOUR NPRF……you just could not make this stuff up,cant be based on their less than stellar returns.
“Enda joins from NAMA, Irelands property work out vehicle, where he was made one of the first officers there in 2009 and was responsible for the property due diligence on a EUR74.2bn portfolio of property related loans acquired from a number of Irish financial institutions. Prior to NAMA, Enda worked for the National Pensions Reserve Fund of Ireland. He has also worked for Pramerica Real Estate Investors and Hammerson.”
http://www.propertyfundsworld.com/2012/03/07/163242/forum-partners-appoints-enda-farrell-representative-ireland
Enda was involved in assessing and valuing NAMA’s acquired loans. Hence he had access to all the files. The fall out from his actions are being felt by all the current employees as we write. The blame game and bullying has turned inward.
Being pedantic, that should read… “The fallout is being felt.”
P.S. NWL, When are we getting an editing tool for the grammatically challenged?
And the fallout continues as careers end…..
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0921/1224324231056.html
There is a lot of ill feeling in NAMA this week. I am told that all NAMA staff are on 12 month rolling contracts. This week, the HR Department called in the staff and told them that because of the Enda Farrell incident, it required them to sign a document that as a condition of ongoing employment, required them to undertake that they would never take a job in a property related business post NAMA.
One employee who used to work for McNamara protested on the basis that he was qualified for nothing else. He was told to “take it or leave it” – that there were plenty of others who would gladly take his place.
It has caused a lot of rancour internally, the staff feel that they are being bullied. Used to dishing it out rather than receiving it, they don’t like it one bit.
@WSTT, NAMA says that information is “nonsense”. It would presumably be completely unenforceable even it were correct.
Hi NWL,
The source has been reliable to date. I will re-check and revert. Mandy Rice- Davies again or someone testing and checking out a leak? I could get paranoid…….
There is most definitely a lot of rancour internally. Rumours are that the investigators used to track down those bold developers are now being let loose internally.
Tensions are incredibly high. The bullies have become the bullied. Brendan is desperately seeking scalps. patsys are needed! Any denial from Nama is rubbish!
If half the information I have heard about and others have noted on here is true Farrell is small fry. Where’s NOonan in all of this….
How do we see into the minds of the minders?
And when bureaucrats go rogue, who minds the minders?
It is only in rare moments – when they personally come under pressure – that we get a glimpse into the minds of the minders.
They are not the chanting hoards, who go out every few days clutching protest flags and posters, turning up to the latest protest outing.
Nor are they the people who are possibly sitting in their homes around the country, taking the misery quietly, keeping their heads down and waiting to see what further hardship the budget will bring. NAMA minders don’t do austerity.
.
They are the permanently committed – the ones who uphold the status quo. If Frank and Brendan’s regime is seen as flawed and corrupt, they face a precarious future. They perceive their own survival as being inextricably linked to the credibility of NAMA. It’s a zero sum game for them.
It is when their conversation goes beyond the debtors or the latest NAMA spin, and the spotlight turns on the fact that an organisation of more than 220 employees, plus appendages in the various NAMA banks, has rogues on the payroll, that you can then catch a glimpse of self-questioning and bewilderment that enters their cosseted minds.
They are genuinely bewildered by what they perceive as the public’s lack of respect or understanding and the cynical refusal to believe the word as handed down by their superiors. Added to a reluctance to provide public access to the information that they hol it leads to a “them and us” culture.
They truly believed they were the powerful elite and that outside of NAMA there is an irritating mob of critics – members of a campaign to provoke a destructive campaign against them.
To say that I don’t see eye-to-eye with them would be an understatement.
But I do pity some of the inmates of NAMA – not because I have developed Stockholm syndrome, but because I am sure there are some who are genuinely wrestling with what their personal future holds. There is a limited future for those who leave NAMA. Their information is useful to many private equity companies that want to raid the Aladdin’s cave, bit that is the limit of their interest. Any Agency employing ex-NAMA minders will be boycotted by those property companies that come through this period. The Irish have long memories.
Some of the minders are without doubt deeply unpleasant, bullying individuals. And there is a widespread sense of distrust, frustration and anger felt by many of the debtors towards some of the minders who should be more appropriately clad in leather jackets.
There are developing shades of grey and nuance on the minder side of these relationships. There are differences and variations in attitudes from the “We are not officially having this discussion” and “I will deny I ever said this,,,” to the nodding donkey or plain no response to queries so that the answer will not be discernible on the recorders….. (why do you think that the debtors always enter and exit by the same padded lift?)
The progress of the Farrell investigation, and the inward-turning attack by those who mind the minders on their own people are key indicators of how this crisis is developing – but so too are the eyes and the quiet comments of the NAMA minders as they weigh up the potential future consequences of their loyalties.
Another on the mark post WSTT!
Farrell’s spreadsheet is out there. And boy is out there! I have been told it’s in circulation in Ireland, the UK and US and EU. Many vultures are trawling through. But again this is the tip of the iceberg. The more discerning are looking for more focused shopping lists and these are on offer to the highest bidder.
As for the sympathy you feel for the employees. You’re right. When this period is over as it will be some day. They will be branded not just by property companies. The whiff of the bully will mark them apart. Bear that in mind, as the blows continue to rain down from on high. There’s many an untenable position. Deckchairs are in flight.
It is a developing crisis…
The repercussions of which could well be fatal…
Minister it’s nearly time to intervene and journos get asking the pertinent questions!
ST reporting yesterday that Enda is now spending more time with his family,sorry behind paywall,appears the wife forwarded the “tape” to a home PC.
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/ireland/article1132307.ece
“It is believed a forensic examination of this computer and other devices used by the couple showed the files were sent onwards to third parties, whose identities are unknown.
Detectives say they can identify the parties who obtained copies of the files by tracing IP addresses.”
Even my teenage daughter knows how to mask her IP address,turn him cut him a deal and make him sing like a canary.He’s no job wife too,new house,will never work in RE again,the information from NAMA is useless to him,he’s toxic.
Forum does not directly purchase RE for its own AC.It’s frequently stated that’s it’s a 5 Billion company,it absolutely is not,significant amount of that are loans serviced by Crown.
One the companies they involved in does something called “Data Cleanising Adding Value in Detail”….I kid you not.
http://www.crowngroupeurope.com/cmm/en/wecanhelpyou/casestudies/
Hi John,
Surely they will know who received the forwarded tapes by the recipients’ addresses on the emails in the “Sent” file? You don’t need to hire detectives for that.
@WSTT, sounds better if you say you’re tracing IP addresses but yes, the email addresses in the sent folder should give big clues! Mind you, the good men and women in the Gardai don’t have the best reputation for IT investigations. They were unable to get into several password-protected Microsoft files at Anglo apparently. And these are the people who thought “Prawo Jazdy” was just a common Polish name, and not Polish for “drivers permit”, and it might be apocryphal but a couple of decades ago, wasn’t there a big manhunt for a murderer based on fingerprints obtained at a murder scene by a forensic scientist, only for the fingerprints to eventually turn out to belong to the …. selfsame forensic scientist.
If someone doesn’t want to leave a trail then they probably used a proxy server, or TOR, to create and access a GMail account – probably called something like burnafterreading@gmail.com.
If they are super paranoid then they will probably have used an open WiFi connection and will have taken all the text from the documents and reformatted them into a clean file.
Enda can claim he sent them to X, Y or Z but if the trail is email only it can be dead-ended.
Perhaps one side of the transaction was smart – because the other side doesn’t appear to have been.
@WSTT hi wstt,Enda and possibly his wife certainly know,they sent them!
You think Brendan Murphy who after all is in charge of IT would know that,but I doubt he has the skill set,he’s X ESB,a lifer.
His position is untenable,does he not a have decent bone is his body,go on Murphy do the right thing resign.
You completely failed the Irish people,violated their trust,the IT system that you are responsible for was breached by an amateur.
Confidential client info is in circulation,why is no one responsible ?
The NTMA wants to be treated like a private company when it comes to salaries,perks, benefits only in dirty old Ireland can you have it both ways.If ths happened in any 70 Billion private RE company stateside,Murphy be long gone Corrigan too,absolutely shameless the pair of them.
Cut a deal with Farrell he’s a pawn,Forum already whacked him,save a lot of time energy and money,prosecute whoever put him up to this and received the info.You can’t put the genie back in the bottle,but boy you can sweat Farrell,he’s all alone,hold him for the maximum allowed,has he even been arrested yet?
http://www.ntma.ie/AboutUs/organisationChart.php
Farrell isn’t a pawn. He’s a patsy.
Brendan and Frank are trying to hold him responsible, when the dogs on the street know it goes much deeper than that.
How many portfolio managers are ex agents…they haven’t cut their ties to their old associates. Some have gone rogue as WSTT notes. Sales processes are flawed and there’s an odour of suspicion and mistrust in the air…
Brendan’s position is untenable. If more leaks happen as one would think they’re about to, then he has to go. So does Frank.
It’s funny that circle has come around so quickly. I’d have expected it to last for another few years. The bullies have become the bullied. They’re canabalising each other.
The level of corruption is staggering.
The funny thing is, the developers aren’t part of it. The masses would have expected it from them. But in many ways they’re the victims in this. Their information which is privileged and confidential and subject to law (s.202 of the NAMA Act) is in circulation. NAMA’s duty of care to them has been breached. Are the offences of Farrell and untold others actionable? Could they sue? What’s certain that for those borrowers who are working with NAMA their job of ensuring returns to the taxpayer has been made more difficult. The goals have been shifted. The vultures know everything.
This undermines the whole operation.
The rules have changed but no one seems to have noticed yet!
@Mossy Knoll check out NWL’s post from this morning regarding pensions,in the “box” is a statement that the NTMA,provide IT support to NAMA.
That would be Corrigan and Brendan Murphy,not Frank and Brendan’s remit.
Farrell should go meet Michael Hanahoe,tell him everything,throw everyone under the bus and try cut a deal.His other option is get accustomed to the fact that his future may include becoming someone’s “wife” in the Joy!
Ethically and morally I think Frank and Brendan are beyond reproach,this idiot came from the NTMA,he worked for Corrigan for years before NAMA.
Understand that. But where does the buck stop?
My point stands NAMA is fatally wounded!
Privileged information is in circulation. Some I am aware of did leave the building via its server.
How the hell can it function when values are out there?
We are a nation that at its core is corrupt. We have a tradition of it. It is in our culture and genes. For evidence of that statement you only have to look at the number of people who availed of the tax amnesty a couple of decades back – before we even begin talking about our politicians and ruling classes.
We are not alone. I would consider the Canadians more moral than most – certainly more moral than us as a nation. Yet a poll of Canadians in April 2009, reported that 19% of females and 29% of males would cheat on their tax forms if they thought that they could get away with it.
So where does that leave us with the employees of NAMA.
Corruption is defined as “the illicit use of one’s position or power for perceived personal or collective gain.”
Research has shown that although corruption begins with one individual in an organization it typically spreads to other participants (Zyglidopoulos and Fleming 2008, 2009).
It has also been shown that individuals were more likely to accept another’s unethical behaviour when such unethical behaviour increased only gradually rather than dramatically – the “slippery slope” effect.
When these conditions exist, corruption spreads and as managers and co-workers observe it but ignore it and turn a blind eye.
In a series of experiments Gino, Ayal and Ariely (2009) show that unethical behaviour by individuals depends less on their simple calculation of cost-benefit to themselves and more on the social norms of the dishonesty of the society around them. Not much hope there then.
Madoff did not act alone, Allen Stanford did not act alone. Edwark Okun, who was convicted of fraud in the USA and jailed for 100 years did not act alone.
History and research underscore Mossy Knoll’s point that Mr Farrell is not alone.
@WSTT, hang on to your seat but Ernst and Young – until the last few days, the employer of Alice Kramer, wife of Enda Farrell – has produced a report on Irish corruption and bribery, and concludes that it has risen sharply since the onset of the financial crisis!
http://www.irishexaminer.com/business/survey-28-of-top-irish-executives-believe-corruption-has-got-worse-208713.html
“Boards need to put pressure on management to conduct more frequent and more robust anti-bribery or anti-corruption risk assessments and they need more tailored reporting to drive improved compliance” says an E&Y representative.
E&Y is on NAMA’s “loan sales advisory” panels, the panel to examine developer business plans and is also the receiver in at least 11 companies on behalf of NAMA.