THE NATIONAL Asset Management Agency is requesting tax returns from the final debtors within the top 190 borrowers that it directly manages to confirm that they are disclosing all their assets.

The agency, which manages debt with a face value of €74 billion acquired from the banks, has been seeking tax returns from the most indebted borrowers over the past year to verify that they have revealed all of their assets.

Once business plans have been either approved or rejected by Nama for the top 190 debtors, it will assess the financial viability of the next most indebted borrowers, numbering about 610, being managed by the banks for the agency.

Nama is close to assessing the business plans for the top 190 borrowers, which account for about €61 billion of the face value of the debts on the agency’s books.

A Nama spokesman said the agency was not entitled to compel debtors to include tax returns as part of their financial statements. A debtor’s failure to provide a tax return if asked would lead Nama to seek further information about the financial position of a debtor.

This can lead to a credit check and in some cases worldwide asset searches to determine whether a debtor has concealed assets and income from Nama.

Developer Ray Grehan, who filed for bankruptcy in the UK last month, was the subject of an asset search by Nama after he failed to disclose overseas properties.

Nama issued a tender in December seeking investigators to conduct worldwide asset searches and to check the accuracy of information provided by debtors.

Nama cannot seek the tax returns of debtors from Revenue to verify any financial details. Under the legislation setting up Nama, the agency is legally obliged to notify the Revenue of possible breaches of tax law and the Revenue can seek information from Nama under this Act.