Ex-HSBC chief has run rule over NAMA strategy
NAMA has already been examined by more than a few agencies -- the EU, the IMF and our own spending watchdog, the Comptroller & Auditor General -- but Michael Geoghegan is easily the most senior banker ever allowed inside the secretive agency.
Mr Geoghegan, chief executive of HSBC until September last year, was summoned by NAMA chief executive Brendan McDonagh to look at whether the agency is making the progress it promised in December 2009.
The Geoghegan report has recently been completed and the ex-banker has taken a very hard-nosed look at NAMA, suggesting a range of reforms.
Mr Geoghegan was known during his time at HSBC as a very blunt speaker who was able to cut through corporate jargon.
Mr Geoghegan left Ireland in the early 1970s when he went into banking in the Middle-east. It is understood Mr Geoghegan has recommended that NAMA do more to manage its assets and make them attractive to buyers.
It is also understood he suggests additional private equity and direct banking experience would be beneficial to NAMA.
But NAMA itself strongly rejects the suggestion that Mr Geoghegan has called for a root-and-branch set of reforms.
EMMET OLIVER
Irish Independent
