Vulture funds are becoming increasingly prevalent in farm circles, as farm loans sold by Ulster Bank seem to be at increasing risk of a forced sale by its vulture fund buyer Cerberus. This week the IFA has
ramped up it's campaign against the forced sale of farmland, and asked farmers and auctioneers to effectively boycott farm sales where a farmer has refused to give permission for the sale of their land.
Vulture funds are becoming increasingly prevalent in farm circles, as farm loans sold by Ulster Bank seem to be at increasing risk of a forced sale by its vulture fund buyer Cerberus.
This week the IFA has ramped up it's campaign against the forced sale of farmland, and asked farmers and auctioneers to effectively boycott farm sales where a farmer has refused to give permission for the sale of their land.
Their interest lies in actually making a loan unworkable
However, prospective sales of farm loans remain on the horizon for AIB and possibly Permanent TSB, and one of the most worrying aspects for farmers with loans held by vulture funds is the lack of regulation and control that the Government has over them.
The Government has promised to work on legislation with Fianna Fáil, but that has yet to materialise.
Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe
Irish Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe speaks during an interview with Reuters at the Ministry of Finance in Dublin, Ireland, on 22 September 2016. \ REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne "I want to highlight…that I cannot stop these sales, even by the banks in which the State has a shareholding.
"They are the responsibility of the boards and management of the banks, which must be run on an independent and commercial basis.
"The banks' independence is protected by relationship frameworks, which are legally binding documents that I cannot change unilaterally."
Seamus Sherlock of ICSA."Going on the increased number of calls I'm getting I'd say the problem is getting worse.
"A lot of farmers call me saying they’re the generation that has failed the family farm.
"But people just got caught up in a bad banking system that wasn’t of their making.
"I’d be urging the vulture fund managers to get realistic and sit down with farmers and work out a solution."
"The difference with the vulture funds is fundamental: they do not provide a range of financial services.
"Their interest lies in actually making a loan unworkable and effectively blocking any attempts to restructure so that the debt can be ‘realised’, which is another word for foreclosed and moving in to sell the farm - the collateral."
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