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Member, Beacon International Group, Ltd.
DUBLIN (Bloomberg)—Ireland’s Quinn Group said there is “no issue” with liquidity and that addressing solvency issues at its insurance business will require €100 million ($134.9 million).
Quinn Insurance was placed in provisional administration on March 30 after Ireland’s financial regulator expressed concern about a “perceived depreciation of the underlying assets.” The company has criticized the decision and employees have staged protests in Dublin against the move.
“Quinn Insurance has ample liquidity with almost €1 billion in cash reserves as well as other assets,” Quinn Group, controlled by billionaire Sean Quinn, said Wednesday in an e-mailed statement. The insurance unit requires about €100 million after investment losses reduced the solvency ratio, it said.
The regulator applied to appoint administrators after it emerged that Quinn Insurance subsidiaries had issued guarantees on some of the group’s €1.2 billion ($1.62 billion) debt. The regulator also ordered the insurance unit to stop writing new business in the United Kingdom. The Irish Times newspaper reported Wednesday that the administrators are assessing the U.K. business and will send their findings to the regulator by Thursday.
Quinn Group said the guarantees issued by the insurance unit can be withdrawn by lenders “with no impact” on the borrowings.
&Copy;2010 Bloomberg News