Welcoming the vultures

Michael Murray: Foreign investment in Irish property should help to de-risk the banks, and thereby reduce the indigenous exposure to a high-risk asset class.

Foreign distressed asset predators piling in don't, in themselves, pose a systemic risk to the Irish economy. But they do drive up asset values, unless and until there is a policy response.

The entry of overseas fund managers into the Irish market to buy up pools of commercial and residential property assets from Nama, and from banks that are exiting the market, is good news.

Let’s recap. Nama was set up to buy distressed property loans at a discount from banks who lacked the capital to continue to carry them on their balance sheets. Nama has creatively managed the loans and the property portfolio that ...