A REPORT by investment bank Merrill Lynch saying that Irish banks had the most aggressive lending standards and were most exposed on UK commercial property was withdrawn yesterday several hours after being issued, writes Simon Carswell, Finance Correspondent.
A spokesman for Merrill Lynch said that the report, which canvassed the views of UK commercial property valuers, had been released "before being edited" and would be reissued today, but that there would be "no material change" in its findings.
The report, which was compiled by analysts in London, listed conduits and Scottish and Irish banks as the most aggressive on lending to commercial property and the "most exposed" to the sector.
"The most aggressive lenders were perceived to be HBOS, Royal Bank of Scotland, 'Irish banks' generically, Anglo, AIB and the conduits," said the report.
Anglo was listed at the top of the ranking as the most exposed to credit risk in the UK commercial property sector, followed by Bank of Ireland and AIB.
One Irish bank official criticised the report, saying that it failed to take into account the relationship-driven nature of lending between Irish banks and developers, which is regarded to be more secure and safer lending.
Some of the comments from UK valuers were edited out. In response to a question about how the top buyers had changed, one valuer said the market had been "full of" Irish buyers, "many lacking property experience".
