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FOR THE FIRST time, a register of the people and institutions who owned shares in controversial company Siteserv was made viewable to journalists today.
Great, you say: some clarity on who got what in the €5 million payout given to shareholders when the company was sold by IBRC, formerly Anglo, to Millington in 2012.
That’s not quite what happened, however.
The register, which was made available by KPMG via market data company Computershare, contained information pertaining to hundreds of shareholders in alphabetical order.
A staff member at Computershare told TheJournal.ie some of the important data may be missing, such as when a person became a shareholder or ceased being one, as the archive is “historic”.
The information could be viewed in batches of no more than 17 names at a time, and each journalist had just half an hour to search the database.
You couldn’t search by date or find out who was behind nominee accounts (which are managed by a group such as a stockbroker on behalf of a company or individual).
The database was contained on a legacy system reminiscent of software more at home in a different decade – it was also VERY un-user friendly.
Later Tom Lyons, Business Editor of the Sunday Business Post, told The Last Word with Matt Cooper, he imagined there must be a simpler way of viewing the data.
“It reminded me of being in the early 1990s with my first computer, that’s how difficult it was to use,” Lyons said.
The journalists ahead of me had taken photos of some of the information and tweeted about it, leading to viewing being suspended for a few minutes.
While I was waiting, employees from KPMG and Computershare approached the journalist ahead of me and made it clear they were unhappy he had taken a photo and shared it on Twitter.
Muddying the waters
When it was my turn to swear in frustration at the computer, I was asked to hand over my phone. I declined, saying I would leave it on the table beside me as an employee from KPMG sat nearby.
Most of the questions I asked about how to navigate the system, were met with “I don’t know” or “hit the F10 button”.
To be fair, those present were trying to be helpful but seemed to have been landed in the deep end.
When the KPMG staff member asked the receptionist on duty for help, she replied : “It’s actually my first day.”
And so we hit F10 a few more times.
We were told we could request another appointment tomorrow if we didn’t have enough time (!) to make sense of the information today. Sanity pushed towards not doing this.
Essentially, an attempt to clear the water has poured about 17 tonnes of mud into it.
When KPMG realised it was “proving problematic in Compushare to view the details in an adequate way” they invited members of the press to view a hard copy of the register in their office this evening.
Again, taking photos is banned and will result in the session being terminated.
FOI
Freedom of Information (FOI) documents released last week included information on some of Siteserv’s shareholders.
As of 9 December 2011, the company’s founder and CEO Brian Harvey owned over 20,270,000 shares (16%).
Harvest Financial Services owned almost 11,900,000 shares (9.4%), while Boundary Capital had 10,800,000 shares (8.6%).
We viewed dozens of entries under “Davycrest” or “Davy” on the register – some with incomplete data such as when the shareholder bought or sold their stake.
Christopher Neate, managing director of Sitserv subsidiary Deborah Services, held 6,415,000 shares (5.1%). Patrick Jordan sold his company Easy Access to Siteserv partially in exchange for shares, and held 5,400,000 units in 2011 (4.3%).
Yesterday, the Sunday Times reported that 6.4 million Siteserv shares changed hands in November 2011 (days before the first bids were received for the company) - compared to just 121,000 shares traded a month earlier.
Review
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Michael Noonan has announced the terms of reference into the review by KPMG of transactions carried out by IBRC prior to the appointment of the special liquidators.
Concerns have been raised about potential conflicts of interest as KPMG previously advised Siteserv.
Retired High Court Judge Justice Iarfhlaith O’Neill has been appointed “to monitor any actual or perceived conflicts of interests”.
In a statement released this evening, Noonan said the special liquidators of IBRC (Kieran Wallace and Eamonn Richardson of KPMG) will review all transactions which occurred between 21 January 2009 (the date of the nationalisation of IBRC), and 7 February 2013 (the date the liquidators were appointed).
The review will cover transactions that resulted in a capital loss to IBRC of at least €10m during that period.
“I want to stress that the commission of this review and report is to serve the public interest in light of recent speculation and is not being undertaken as the result of any evidence that such deficiencies existed or that transactions were not commercially sound,” Noonan said.
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin said appointed a retired judge to oversee the review “does not go nearly far enough”.
“This an extremely weak attempt by government to give the impression of an inquiry while avoiding any real independent investigation into the very serious questions surrounding the sale of Siteserv,” Martin stated.
Independent TD Catherine Murphy, who has been looking in the Siteserv deal for over a year, wasn’t impressed by the news either.
“Why appoint KPMG in the first place and provide for the potential for conflicts to arise? Surely the first conflict the judge encounters is the perceived conflict of KPMG having been involved in the original transaction?,” Murphy told us.
Sinn Féin’s Deputy Leader Mary Lou McDonald described the terms of reference as “totally inadequate” and “far from the independent and comprehensive inquiry that is needed”.
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For a tiny insignificant country we really have it lucky the way we’ve access to US presidents who having been visiting the Emerald Isle now for decades. To have a sitting president who is also an employer in Ireland is just unprecedented. We constantly hear tripe about the EU and Ireland is at the ‘heart of Europe’ but America has done far more for us than being a colony to Germany/France.
@Windom Earle: Spot on.
@Windom Earle: spot on
@Windom Earle: who paid for the roads you drive on. Who pays farmers for there quotas. The EU has done for more for this little country in the last 40 years than a couple of US presidents.
@Windom Earle: Shhh stop talking sense. Boo Trump. I rEad bAd thiNGs ab0ut tRump in Sheep Weekly.
@Windom Earle: Trump is only interested in America, you think if he could bring Apple and Google back to America with all those jobs he wouldn’t?? He is not an employer here, unless you’re only counting Doonbeg?
@Windom Earle: Nothing to do with luck Wisdom….. Thanks to the millions upon millions of IMIGRANTS that came from Ireland. Helped build America and integrated into every Facit of life there. Who are now a very powerful voter generic to tap into come election time for votes. Hence…. WISDOM why we get access to their presence whenever they need the points swing in the poles.
@Windom Earle: what a load of nonsense
@Marc Power: what do you expect from a trump supporter?
@MyBrokenKnees: last I’ve heard we have given the eu 200+ billion in fishing rights for those roads and farm subsidies over the past 40 years. That combined with saddling gamblers debt on the children and grandchildren of our current tax payers ( myself and spouse ) included. The US dollar sent home from EMIGRANTS in the US kept this country’s poor fed for decades unlike the enslavement to EU debt imposed in the last decade which will have the majority of citizens on there knees in the very near future
@Eugene Conroy: good man eugene a slanted opinion of course sure theres no fish outside irelands fishing limits .. we gave the EU 200 billion worth of fish .. did they not have to catch them first and land a huge amount of them in our ports to have them processed and as for the money from America to feed the poor good God man get your head out of peig sayers..
@Eugene Conroy: Good man Eugene crawl and bow to your masters. To those quislings who sold out………!
@Thomas Quinn: millions upon millions .. why not use a trump ism altogether.. billions and billions
@MyBrokenKnees: our fish according to some commenter
@Windom Earle: Winddumb! I see your lobotomy was a success
@Windom Earle: __ Never have I seen so much complete and utter bowlocks in a comment on the Journal.
@Windom Earle: Trump only cares about 2 things, himself and people like him. I will admit that he isn’t the worst president that has been in the Oval Office but his ignorance and complete lack of common sense is nothing short of astonishing. I think 50 cent was right, he ran for president to get his name out there again so he could get back into the lime light, I don’t think he thought he could win and now he’s just sticking to the script that got him elected.
@MyBrokenKnees:
So we gained our freedom and independence from the Brits, only to run under the wing of the EU for roads and quotas. Can’t wait for the day when we the people remove the tolls on these roads.
@Eugene Conroy:
Spot on
@Candace: You are loyal to The Vatican State, not Ireland, hypocrite.
@Windom Earle: If America and the UK do well then we do well.
Its not a joke its a fact, support them while times are tough and they will remember it.
The M50 has paid for itself… The farmers have to limit production to fill quotas (This is not a good thing) The payment they get is called a subsidy for not over farming.
Ireland fought hard for its freedom and a boomer generation sold it for cheap money.
@Orla Smith:
How’s Maggie and the Klan, business good?:)
Like two pri(ks in a pod
Nigel got his kids German passports just in case.
@Daithi Ó Raghallaigh: no he did not. Their mother is German and have been long term dual citizens.
Nigel Farage would not be entitled to get them a German passport.
@Daithi Ó Raghallaigh: you’re nonsense has been emphatically fed back to you.
@Darius Guppy: Nigel Farage Freely admitted two of his children have both British and German Passports and his own great Grandfather Migrated from Germany to the UK. are contradicting him? https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/apr/18/nigel-farage-admits-his-children-hold-german-as-well-as-uk-passports
@Daithi Ó Raghallaigh:
I think the point Darius was making is that Farage’s children obtained German passports by virtue of their German mother as your link to the Guardian article confirms.
Your original post implied that Farage personally obtained them and I assume you meant through his own lineage which was not the case.
@Charles Alexander: no I pointed out his own lineage as an example of Migration he opposes. Also his kids have long time German passports which would have required his authorization as kids getting passports require parents consent.
@Daithi Ó Raghallaigh: His first wife was Irish and he has two children with her.
@Daithi Ó Raghallaigh: Trump would love you, another fake news merchant for him to moan about.
Hope he has a great time over here!
I don’t care anymore about armchair protesters who know nothing about politics.
@TheFreeSpeechParty: And you do?
@Keith O’Reilly: He’s an Irexit and Gemma O’D supporter, The Unvotables, LOL! Cuckoo, cuckoo!
@TheFreeSpeechParty: The Democrats can’t touch him on the Politics . They are determined to get him 4 more years .
Imagine these two in the same room as Keith Duffy and the chunky bloke from Westlife that was married to the Atomic Kitten one. The amount of antimatter generated could potentially tear the universe to pieces
@Roy O’Rourke: That would make Keith Duffy the smartest guy in the room I reckon.
I only read today that, before Trump’s juvenile remark, Sadiq Khan called Trump a “20th century fascist”. What a stup1d thing to say! Remarkable how underreported this is but not surprising!
@Jack Simpson: Trump does fancy himself a fascist dictator you can see this with him cozying up to the like of Putin,Netanyahu and Kim Jong-un.
@Christopher Mulrooney: Trump is not a fascist. Neither are the people you mentioned. Trump derangement syndrome is widespread!
@Jack Simpson: __ He’s not a 20th Century fascist, he’s a 21st Century fascist.
@Jack Simpson: Khan is bringing London back a few centuries anyway .
Love is blind and dangerous liaisons are formed then again voters get what they deserve see what the love in with FG has achieved
@Martin Brennan: we get the politicians we deserve eh
Poor old Melania, always looks like a hostage, hopefully one day soon she’ll tell all.
@Orla Smith: I hear she’s putting out for the Donald tonight . Lucky Guy !
@Pl O’neill: Creep.
Donald is getting loads of Rumpy Pumpy from Melania this Holiday . Great Guy .
Nigel Farage = Great Guy . The Gretest Freedom Fighter since Michael Collins .
Another Great Victory in the Peterborough By-Election on Tuesday .
Nigel just gets better and better and better .
If Irish Republicans had their Nigel Farage All of Ireland would be Free .
Thick as thieves
@southside: But did you hear about the UK privatising their NHS to US companies???
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/04/trump-says-he-turned-down-corbyn-request-to-meet
Farage, there’s a ‘negative force’ for you!
Look on the bright side US about to turn the UK into a dependent vassal state with no say in US politics. Next PM will be a lap dog, and possibly grow two heads after eating US genetically modified food. The terra firma will be an aircraft carrier for US forces, who will pilage the local maidens UK once a empire now becomes a colony of US imperialism with Nigel Farage as governor general. Queen consigned to was model.
May Farage Jacimov???
Ah yes… But there is a storm, and then there are strikes in France, and then there are the French … Good luck
Nice to see Two Docks Happy
@pat seery: DUCKS
The poster of Farage kissing Trump in this story is problematic because of its homophobia.
The message it is clearly sending is that being gay is laughable.
The person carrying the banner is a homophobic bigot.
I loathe Trump and Farage and I loathe that poster for its vile message.
Trump has made enquiries regarding the
King position in U.K…..
When will commentators, journalists, sub-editors and people in general learn the difference between ‘there’, ‘their’ and ‘they’re’? They’re over there with their friends. Not too difficult.
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