Irish Bank Resolution, which changed its name from Anglo Irish Bank in July 2011, has decided not to sell a portion of its U.S. loans due to fears of lawsuits from U.S. customers, whose consent would have been required in order to sell their performing loans, an article in Irish Times said.
The bank will maintain an office in Boston to manage the $1 billion in U.S. loans that it retained, the paper said.
One retained loan is the debt on the Apthorp apartment building on the Upper West Side. Irish Bank Resolution was sued in September when it first attempted to sell the loan tied to the condominium conversion at the Apthorp. As The Real Deal has reported, the developers at the Apthorp, Africa Israel USA and Broadwall Management, were fined by Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for making conflicting statements to his office and in the suit challenging the loan’s sale. In a February filing, the developers said the bank may sell the loan, but it would have no impact on them or on the 163-unit building at 2211 Broadway. The Apthorp developers later said they would withdraw the suit.
Wells Fargo purchased the other performing loans, where customers agreed to have their debt acquired from IBRC. JPMorgan Chase and Texas-based hedge fund Lone Star picked up the sub- and non-performing U.S. loans. The former Anglo Irish Bank’s total loan portfolio was $9.65 billion. [Irish Times]