IBRC review finds no ‘stateable case’ of negligence against KPMG

A review of KPMG’s audit of the Irish Nationwide Building Society in

2008 has found there is no “stateable case” of negligence against the accounting firm.

This emerges in the latest progress report on Irish Bank Resolution Corporation produced for the Government by KPMG as special liquidators of IBRC.

The report also states that “no viable claim” exists against law firm McCann FitzGerald in respect to legal advice it provided.

IBRC was placed into liquidation in February 2013 having comprised most of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide.

The liquidators said they have submitted their report on the conduct of the directors of IBRC in the 12 months to the end of February 2013 to the Office of Director of Corporate Enforcement. The matter is “ongoing”.

Litigation remains a “key risk” to completing the liquidation of IBRC, according to the report. KPMG said there was “on-going management” of 356 sets of legal proceedings.

“There have been approximately 29 new sets of proceedings noted since January 2015, primarily in the Republic of Ireland,” the report states.

The fees associated with the liquidation came to €187.5 million by the end of 2015, including €28.5 million last year.

Some €100.5 million in fees has been paid to KPMG’s firms in Ireland and the UK. This includes €24.5 million last year. Law firm A&L Goodbody had been paid €35 million by the end of 2015.

In the year to the end of February 2016, IBRC generated cash receipts of €520 million while spending €140 million on the settlement of hedging derivative contracts, administrative expenses, and the costs of liquidation.

KPMG has set out nine key tasks that need to be completed before the end of the liquidation. These include managing the remaining €3.7 billion loan book, the liquidity of its €2.3 billion in cash, the sale of remaining assets and the management of various legal cases.

The liquidators will also have to wind up remaining subsidiaries, complete the interest overcharge remediation project, and the completion of the creditor adjudication process.

All former IBRC offices were closed in 2015. There are currently 37 employees remaining as at February 1st 2016. The last remaining employee pension scheme will be wound down during 2016.

Some 2,700 claims have been received from unsecured creditors. The liquidators said 560 claims have been formally assessed while a further 1,050 are in the final stages of being assessed.

The remainder are either being reviewed or have been reviewed and are being queried with the potential creditor.

The liquidators are also dealing with the consequences of a recent High Court decision regarding interest overcharging and whether any similar type of claims are a matter for IBRC in liquidation or for other third parties. Some 6,995 customers are affected by this.