IRISH NATIONWIDE has appointed a former property investment manager at D2 Private, the investment company owned by developer David Arnold, to the building society’s commercial lending team.
Declan Ballance, who was responsible for financing investment and development projects at D2 Private, has taken up the role of senior commercial banking manager reporting to Irish Nationwide chief executive Gerry McGinn.
Mr Ballance is one of a number of senior executives in Irish Nationwide’s commercial lending department who will work closely with Mr McGinn on loans that will be purchased by the National Asset Management Agency (Nama).
A spokesman for Irish Nationwide said it has yet to appoint a new head of commercial lending.
The Government’s toxic loans agency will buy loans with a face value of €8.3 billion from Irish Nationwide, leaving the lender substantially smaller, with residential property loans of €2.2 billion.
The transfer of the loans to Nama is expected to leave the building society requiring a capital injection of at least €1 billion.
The Government plans to take “a special share” in return for a capital investment following changes introduced during the recent amendments to the Nama Bill. The sale of loans to Nama is expected to be the catalyst leading to a merger of Irish Nationwide with the State’s only other mutual lender, EBS building society.
Mr Ballance, who joined the building society this week, is the fourth senior appointment at Irish Nationwide since the departure of Michael Fingleton as chief executive last April.
The most recent appointments were banker Roger McGreal as a non-executive director, and Valerie Mulhall who will lead the building society’s interaction with Nama.
Mr Ballance has worked for Royal Bank of Scotland, which owns Ulster Bank, and Hatfield Philips, a London property firm.
D2 Private announced plans in April 2008 to spend €500 million on investments in the London market, bringing the value of the firm’s property portfolio at that time to well in excess of €2 billion.
