THE NATIONAL Asset Management Agency has issued tenders for corporate legal and accountancy services which are only open to the biggest firms in the State.
The tenders preclude firms with a turnover below €25 million from applying.
Based on independent surveys, just six firms of solicitors and eight accountancy practices would be eligible to tender for the work.
“A minimum turnover is one of the indicators that helps Nama assess the capacity of a tenderer to meet its obligations and potential liabilities under that given contract,” a spokesman for the agency said last night.
“Please note, however, Nama permits a tenderer to rely on the capacities of its parent company, one or more affiliates or group companies or third parties, provided that it can prove the necessary support from those entities will be provided.”
Many of the large firms who qualify under the turnover rule have carried out legal and accountancy work for both the banks who have transferred loans to Nama and the property developers who were financed with the loans.
“Nama has strict protocols in place to manage conflicts of interest with any service provider and they would apply in this case,” said the spokesman.
The tender for legal work is for “general advice on the internal workings of the agency” according to the spokesman.
Nama last year created panels of legal firms in Ireland and Britain which it uses for enforcement actions against borrowers and advice on refinancing of their loans.
According to the Lawyer magazine’s annual ranking of Europe’s top 100 legal firms, Arthur Cox had revenues of €106 million last year. It has 570 staff and 104 partners.
McCann FitzGerald had turnover of €100 million which was generated by 425 staff, including 67 equity partners.
Matheson Ormsby Prentice generated revenues of €97 million last year from its 550 staff. Of a similar scale is AL Goodbody, which generated fee income of €89.2 million.
According to the Lawyer’s ranking, the other Irish firms which would be able to tender for the Nama work are William Fry (€58 million) and Mason Hayes Curran (€36 million). All the firms are based in Dublin.
Arthur Cox is the current provider of corporate legal services to Nama. According to Nama’s 2010 annual report, the agency incurred legal fees of €3.3 million last year.
Based on Finance Dublin's accountancy survey for 2010, eight Irish-based firms would qualify for the tender process.
These are PricewaterhouseCoopers (€207 million turnover), KPMG (€231 million), Deloitte (€145.7 million), Ernst Young (€125.1 million), BDO (€63 million), Grant Thornton (€53 million), RSM Farrell Grant Sparks (€31 million) and Mazars (€26 million).
According to Nama’s annual report, “financial adviser and consultancy fees” came to €5 million last year, which it says includes “fees paid for accounting, financial, and business process advice”.
Separately Nama has also issued a tender looking for advisers in Europe and the US to assist with the sales of loans. The spokesman said this would ensure it got the best value from the sale of loans.
