Although frustration is frequently expressed on here at the national obsession with NAMA developer salaries to the neglect of oversight of NAMA’s asset management role which sees an average of €500m of assets disposed of a month, every month, it remains the case that the public is fascinated by how much developers, who rely on the State (through NAMA), get paid. And if you were to ask the NAMA chairman, Frank Daly how much they get paid, he would presumably tell you “generally between €70-100,00” though in two cases, there are salaries of €200,000; the higher salaries are justified by those developers being responsible for multi-billion euro portfolios. At least this is what Frank told the Oireachtas public accounts committee in October 2011.
But have a look though at the accounts of the Northern Irish residential development and construction company, Monnaboy Limited which were signed off last week and are available here. It’s part of the Derry-based McGinnis group, associated with John McGinnis. The company lost GBP 25m (€30m) last year and GBP 35m the year before and now has a balance sheet with a negative value – assets less liabilities – of GBP 55m . It owed its banks, understood to be Bank of Ireland only, GBP 61m in 2010. It says its loans have now transferred to NAMA. Oh, and the highest paid director received GBP 237,059 (€282,000) in 2010.
Now this is no multi-billion euro company; according to the accounts, its assets are valued at just GBP 20m. And yet a director drew down the equivalent of €282,000 in 2010 – 40% more than NAMA says it will pay at the upper limit for those managing multi-billion portfolios.
NAMA was created in 2009 – December 2009 to be legally exact – though it was in May 2009 when Brendan McDonagh was named the interim managing director of the as-yet unformed Agency. And it spent most of 2010 acquiring loans from the five so-called Participating Institutions – AIB, Anglo, Bank of Ireland, EBS and INBS. So there was a transitionary period in 2010 before NAMA would have acquired these loans from Monnaboy when payments may have been made to this director. But surely NAMA had a protocol in place to prevent large salaries being paid at companies where there was a good possibility of the loans getting into difficulty?
NAMA has been asked to comment on the specifics of this case, and more generally what protocols (if any) it had in place during the transitionary period to cap developer salaries. The period covered by Monnaboy’s accounts is October 2009 to September 2010 so NAMA might say that it wasn’t in legal existence for part of the accounting period. As the young people might say “whatever” – NAMA has ended up with loans today at a company which is GBP 237 059 worse off as a result of the salary paid to a director in 2010. NAMA might say that in 2009/10 the loan was the responsibility of Bank of Ireland, but it is NAMA that has ended up with a company GBP 237,059 worse off, not Bank of Ireland.
NAMA Wine Lake 
Hate to say it but have seen the Same thing at A Donegal Based firm where 3 directors where Paid 100000+ whose loans recently Transfered to NAMA
Unbelievable, but not surprising… what will it take for this sort of culture to change? Once again great work NWL, I hope that these facts are picked up by the wider media.
@tc most likely some public floggings and the mandatory wearing of hair shirts,perhaps some impairment loses in the above mix!
So the bankers,regulators,civil servants are all volunteers these days.
To have to work for NAMA? No money would pay for it! I would suggest that anyone thinking of doing it reconsider and get themselves a proper job.
you clearly cant read the accounts. the loans were transfered late 2010… so NAMA didnt pay any salary…
@nelly, the blogpost is entitled “NAMA allowed …” and the point is that there was a transitionary period before NAMA formally acquired the loans where there doesn’t appear to have been any protocol in place on salaries which looks like a serious planning error, and means NAMA now has recourse to companies with less value because of the magnitude of salaries paid.
But the above mentioned salary would have been paid to B of I which is now partially owned by US and Canadian folks,bet they are receiving timely distributions and salaries.
@JG, you’ve lost me. In 2010 the company Monnaboy paid director emoluments of GBP 237k to one director.
What does “But the above mentioned salary would have been paid to B of I” mean?
Why do you say the salary (or emoluments) would have been paid to Bank of Ireland?
Pay peanuts and you get monkeys – as NAMA will find out.
The developers might do well to heed the words of Friedrich Nietzsche:
“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.”
@WSTT, you may well be right and €200,000 to manage a €2bn portfolio, although it is a large salary by average standards, is in the context of that work indeed “peanuts”
But above you have a modest development and construction company whose finance look horrendous (losses, negative balance sheet) yet it still manages to pay one director €282k.
In comparison the the pristine balance sheet of B of I,which was owed the money.They not skimping or scrapping on salaries.
Let’s assume for now the loans are non performing,hence NAMA’d.
Further the loans I assume are not in full compliance with all terms and provisions,such as payment.Therefore,further assumption,the salary may alternatively have been utilized to service debt,owned to B of I.It’s also Friday,having some fun.
“It owed its banks, understood to be Bank of Ireland only, GBP 61m in 2010.”
This was a B of I loan,assume the head of the credit group approved it.Must be signatures from fairly senior B of I people on these loan approvals.
NWL agreed horrendous losses,wonder what the chap at B of I or ‘chaps’ that approved this loan made this year.Most likely they were all fired and facing total complete financial meltdown !
eh now hold on,they transferred all these crap loan to NAMA,and blissfully continue on.
MArk Twain said that “the less a man knows, the bigger the noise he makes and the higher the salary he commands” It seems appropriate to NAMA as its policy, insofar as it has one, is that power over its debtors salaries gives power over their will.
I would point out to the debtors that a steady salary, especially one received from NAMA, is an invitation to subjugation and mediocrity. To paraphrase the quote ” better to live one day as a lion and die, than to live a thousand years sheepishly.”
few hundred grand hardly the stuff dreams are made of,pales in comparison to the havoc wrecked on the country by the bankers.
‘TAXPAYERS and shareholders lost more than €127 billion in Irish banks in little more than two years and, at best, the state can hope to get back €30bn.’
Read more: http://www.irishexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/ann-cahill/bank-bailout-to-yield-just-30bn-return-177259.html#ixzz1giPlnvT3
Puts things in perspective, John. Says it all really.
@wstt and JG, as men who seem to like “words” a lot
It gas taken me two years to get over that hilarious expression
“long term economic value”
it still makes me smile when I think of it, the brilliance, the literary bravado needed to be so eloquent.But no, wait, now we have a better one, the
“fiscal compact”.
Fiscal compact? sounds like a suppository……. which in a manner of speaking it actually is. Should be familiar turf for most our TD’s.
I can see it now — Vote “yes” for free fiscal compacts for the over 65’s
@sf my own personal favorite was ‘soft landing’ it was used in the oft quoted VF article,how about crash landing.
“We’re going to have a soft landing”
But the bankers appear to have simply dumped the worst loans they made into NAMA,and escaped without any consequences.
This is all over the media here today,you can only hope !
‘The Securities and Exchange Commission has brought civil actions against six former top executives at the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, saying that the executives did not adequately disclose their firms’ exposure to risky mortgages in the run-up to the financial crisis.”
http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/12/16/s-e-c-sues-6-former-top-fannie-and-freddie-executives/?hp
http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2011/03/michael-lewis-ireland-201103
@NWL based on the accounts of Monnaboy Limited,and now that the debt collectors at NAMA are on it,that gravy train has endad.Unlike of course this one which is just starting………….
‘That same day, a new contract for Mr Conlon was drawn up, detailing a starting salary of €127,000 per annum, an inflation-busting 37% increase on the original offer of €92,672 that had been approved’
http://thestory.ie/
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2069731/How-Taoiseach-ordered-officials-break-salary-cap-old-friend-PR-adviser.html#ixzz1gjg0bxfH
Did the Agency respond in any way to your inquiry for a comment on the Specifics of this case??
@Patrick, no except to emphasise the accounts covered the period Oct 2009 to September 2010. But no, there was no response to whether or not the Agency had a transitionary protocol.
What kind of structures,in terms of funding ect have been made available to Non NAMA Developer Companies?Seen story relating to A Liam Carroll Controlled Company where company has seen staffing Levels rise along with wage bill(Last weeks Irish times)
@Patrick,the Irish Govt. guaranteed ALL the debts of the Irish Banks,in order …..sorry can’t think of any good reason.
However,theoretically it facilities liquidity in Irish banking…that’s wrong too.
Quick answer none.