AIB shareholders have voted by an overwhelming majority for involvement with the National Asset Management Agency (Nama). The sale of loans, at a discount, to the agency is now expected to begin in January and is targeted to be completed by July 2010.
The shareholders voted 99.7 per cent for the proposal at an extraordinary general meeting held in the Bankcentre, Ballsbridge, Dublin today.
They voted 98.1 per cent in favour of a second resolution that will allow the bank convene certain shareholders' meetings at 14 days' notice.
The bank previously urged shareholders to approve the plan, which will allow it to transfer toxic loans to the State body at a discount, warning failure to do so could put the institution at risk of full or part nationalisation.
Shareholders' votes are currently being counted, and the result is expected to be know later this afternoon.
AIB chairman Dan O'Connor told shareholders at the meeting there is "no reason" to believe the discount on its loans going to a state bad bank will be "significantly outside" the 30 per cent average for all lenders estimated by the government. He said the bank won't know the exact discount until all loans are transferred.
Mr O'Connor said the bank was looking at ways to raise capital, including a possible public issue of shares that may require government support.
"We are currently exploring a number of ways to bolster our equity capital base through asset sales, the introduction of a strategic investor, and a public share issue which may require government support," he said.
The bank intends to raise capital within the next year, he said.
On Sunday, Central Bank governor Patrick Honohan said in an interview that one or both of Ireland’s big banks could end up in majority Government ownership for a time.
Mr O'Connor said today the bank wants to retain a stock listing. "Hopefully we can repay the government over a period of time," he said.
Mr O'Connor also denied that a merger with Bank of Ireland was being considered, remarking that the European Union wouldn't allow such a deal.
Economics professor Morgan Kelly said the survival of Irish banks was threatened by a wave of mortgage losses, as house prices slump and unemployment surges.
"The Irish banks remain as zombies whose only priority is to reduce their debt, and who face complete destruction from mortgage losses," said Mr Kelly, a professor at University College Dublin, in a research paper dated December 21st. "The Irish state can do nothing but watch as the second wave of the mortgage defaults sweeps in and drowns them."
Mr Kelly said Nama won't prompt banks to restart lending; instead, they will focus on repaying their own borrowings, used to fuel a surge in lending during the boom.
He predicted house prices, which have dropped about 40 per cent from their peak, may fall another 50 per cent.
The issue is "whether the Irish government's commitments to bank bond holders, when added to its existing spending commitments, will overwhelm the fiscal capacity of the state," Mr Kelly said.
Shares in AIB closed at €1.35 up nearly 10 per cent on yesterday’s trading.
Additional reporting: Bloomberg