NAMA on track to wind down by the end of 2025

The National Assets Management Agency remains on track to wind down completely by the end of next year.

But the Minister for Finance Michael McGrath has confirmed that “some residual assets will remain unresolved” after the end of 2025, and that he will be proposing a new bill to ensure the NTMA manages these assets in 2026.

Speaking at the launch of NAMA’s annual report for 2023, Minister McGrath said the heads of the new bill – which outline its key points – will be published “in the next number of weeks”.

He said it is likely the bill will be published in autumn, and that the “intention” is for it to potentially become law by the end of the year.

Officials confirmed the likely end date at the launch of the recession-era bank’s annual report for last year in Dublin’s Docklands area today.

That was confirmed by NAMA chief executive Brendan McDonagh at a press conference at NAMA’s Docklands headquarters, where he confirmed “NAMA is coming to an end” while Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said it is now “very much in its final phase”.

NAMA said today that it has increased its projected lifetime contribution to the Exchequer by €300m to €5.2 billion, subject to market conditions.

This includes a surplus of €4.8 billion, an increase from its previous projection of €4.5 billion, and NAMA’s corporation tax payments to the State totalling over €400m to date.

NAMA today also reported an after-tax profit of €68m for 2023 – its 13th consecutive year of profitability.

The National Asset Management Agency was set up in 2009 to clean the property crash related debts from the balance sheets of the main Irish banks and used €32 billion of debt to rid banks of €74 billion worth of risky property loans.

Subject to market conditions, NAMA said it will make surplus transfer payments totalling about €1 billion to the Exchequer over the rest of 2024 and 2025.

NAMA’s annual report also shows that €350m was transferred to the Exchequer in surplus payments last year, and it said it has been debt free since redeeming the last of its €31.8 billion debt in March 2020.

It also reveals that between the start of 2014 and the end of May 2024, NAMA funded or facilitated the delivery of over 37,700 new homes.

An additional 369 units are under construction, while a further 6,800 units have been granted planning permission or are the subject of planning applications, for delivery after NAMA’s wind-down has taken place.

Of these 37,700 homes, over 14,000 were directly funded by NAMA, with the rest delivered indirectly on sites for which NAMA had funded planning permission, enabling works, legal costs or holding costs before they were disposed of.

NAMA also said today it is implementing its plan to wind down and will conclude its work no later than the end of December 2025.

The Minister for Finance recently announced that any remaining NAMA assets or activities will be transferred to a newly-established Resolution Unit within the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) at the end of 2025.

The Minister also said that NAMA will take over responsibility for any residual IBRC assets and liabilities from IBRC’s Special Liquidators during 2025, following the conclusion of its Special Liquidation process.

NAMA’s chief executive Brendan McDonagh said that despite a challenging property market globally and a much smaller portfolio, the strength of NAMA’s performance in 2023 has allowed it to increase its projected lifetime surplus by €300m.

“We are now on course to deliver €5.2 billion for the Exchequer,” Mr McDonagh said.

“Our key priority from here is to reduce our portfolio as much as possible through asset disposals, debtor exits and debt resolution, all the time remaining focused on maximising value for the State,” he added.

NAMA Chairman Aidan Williams said that as the agency enters its final 18 months, it intends to keep delivering for the people of Ireland, for the economy and for society.

“We will maintain the same rigour and focus on resolving our remaining assets as we have displayed throughout NAMA’s lifetime,” he added.

“The publication of the NAMA 2023 annual report records a 13th successive year of profit for NAMA and I welcome news announced today that NAMA’s overall projected lifetime surplus has increased, with €5.2 billion now expected to be returned to the Exchequer by the time NAMA concludes its work,” the Minister for Finance Michael McGrath said.

“This positive development is a clear reflection of the strong performance and success of NAMA over recent years, underpinned by the commitment, dedication and expertise of the Board and staff working at the Agency,” the Minister said.

“I am confident that NAMA will continue to deliver the best value from its remaining assets, working to maximise the return for the State whilst also implementing a phased and orderly wind-down of the agency as it enters its final phase of work before ultimate conclusion by end-2025,” he added.

Speaking at today’s press conference, Mr McDonagh also said that NAMA continues to face “17 live litigation” cases with a value of approximately €50m.

Mr McDonagh said of the 17 cases, seven are considered by NAMA to be “dormant”, while the group is “actively working” to address the remaining ten.

He said although NAMA is coming to the end of its lifespan, the group believes the cases should still be pursued in the interests of the State.