Mystery over how Treasury Holdings has magicked up multi-million euro security for costs in NAMA case

It’s Friday, so it seems unfair to have to scratch your heads at a conundrum that emerged from the High Court yesterday. NAMA Top 10 developer Treasury Holdings is in the wars with NAMA. In January, NAMA had receivers appointed to a slew of Treasury properties and companies; Treasury got upset and applied to the High Court in Dublin for a judicial review of NAMA’s dealings with its loans; the courts last month granted Treasury its wish for a judicial review which is set to take place in the coming months. Treasury is, according to NAMA and it doesn’t seem to be disputed by any party, “massively insolvent” – it has loans of €2.7bn including €1.7bn from NAMA and its assets are worth half that, so that NAMA says the company was insolvent to the tune of €859m. So NAMA, naturally enough given it is facing into an expensive court case where it will defend its dealings with Treasury’s loans, sought security for its costs (should it win of course). This preliminary point was set to come before the High Court yesterday, but just beforehand, NAMA came to an agreement with Treasury which is reported by the Irish Times today and is as follows:

Treasury provides the following as security for costs and damages (the Irish Times refers to “a fortified undertaking for damages based on those same resources [as detailed below]”)

(1) €600,000 in cash plus
(2) a charge over a 50 acre development site at Valverde, Cala Llonga in Ibiza
(3) a charge over a property at St Laurence’s Park, Stillorgan, Dublin
(4) a charge over 20 car parking spaces a tTownsend Street and Clanwilliam Terrace in Dublin

What is the total value of the above? Difficult to say, but a 50-acre development site in Ibiza alone, is likely to be worth millions of euro.But the mystery is how “massively insolvent” Treasury could magick up this security which presumably is unencumbered, that is, not subject to claims from anyone else including NAMA and Treasury’s other lenders who are owed €1bn.

Presumably NAMA has its “asset recovery specialists” examining the provenance of this security right now.