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UK Asset Resolution (UKAR) suspended its policy of preventing its sellside advisers from taking on buyside roles in portfolio sales, allowing Credit Suisse to work for both sides during the Pound13.3bn sale of the Northern Rock Granite portfolio, according to a report from the National Audit Office released on Tuesday.
The Pounds 13.3bn sale was completed in November 2015, with Cerberus Capital Management acquiring the portfolio, which included the Granite securitization vehicle as well as mortgages and unsecured loans.
The report was commissioned by the UK Parliament to determine whether the sale represented value for money for the British taxpayer.
One of the issues the report covered was the role played by Credit Suisse in advising both sides during the transaction.
The bank was appointed as an advisor to UKAR, the entity responsible for managing and unwinding the government's holdings in Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley, in September 2014. Over the course of the sale process, Credit Suisse earned Pounds 5.4m in fees from UKAR -- a figure that was increased from an original Pounds 2m fee "once the complexity and size of the deal became clear" according to the report.