£millions for PFI fire stations was borrowed from French and German banks

£millions for PFI fire stations was borrowed from French and German banks

£millions for PFI fire stations was borrowed from French and German banks

                                            

The three boxes on the left are the PFI fire stations contract
The three boxes on the left are the PFI fire stations contract

There are many people who know more about accountancy than I do. I look forward to reading their comments on this. Below are links to the funding documents, which is part of the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority PFI fire stations contract that I wrote about yesterday. I received a copy of the contract from Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service when I exercised a right under s.15 of the Audit Commission Act 1998 c.18 to inspect and receive copies of the contract.

I’ve left out 4.7 (Bank Account Mandates) as this contains details of sort codes and account numbers with specimen signatures for those accounts. It’s probably better that such information isn’t published!

I find these financial documents rather confusing to understand as they use a lot of jargon. To me it seems to be an agreement to borrow up to £50,436,936 between now and 2038 from two banks (Dexia Crédit Local (a Franco-Belgian bank) and Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (a German bank)). The banks then charge interest on the money borrowed.

If anyone can tell me what the interest rate is being charged by the banks for this money (based on the documents below), please leave a comment. I’ve tried reading these documents to figure it out but it seems to be made deliberately obscure (probably because it’s a variable rather than fixed amount).

4.1 Loan Facilities Agreement

4.2 Funders PA Direct Agreement

4.3 Construction Direct Agreement

4.4 FM Direct Agreement

4.6 Account Mandate Agreement

4.8 STID

4.9 Noteholder Subscription Agreement

4.10 ProjCo Loan Note Instrument

4.11.1 Dexia ISDA

4.11.2 Nord LB ISDA

4.12 Agency Fee Letter

4.13 Arrangement Fee Letter

4.14 Equity Guarantee

4.15 Intermediate Loan Note Instrument

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Labour run Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has £166,120,000 invested in banks despite Labour councillor comparing bankers to "train robbers"

Labour run Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has £166,120,000 invested in banks despite Labour councillor comparing bankers to “train robbers”

Labour run Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has £166,120,000 invested in banks despite Labour councillor comparing bankers to “train robbers”

                                                              

Councillor Phil Davies (Chair of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority) at a recent meeting 13th February 2015
Councillor Phil Davies (Chair of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority) at a recent meeting 13th February 2015

Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Investment List

Borrower Principal (£) Interest Rate Start Date Maturity Date Lowest Long
Term Rating
Historic Risk
of Default
National Westminster Bank 4,050,000 0.50% Call BBB+ 0.001%
Bank of Scotland PLC 10,935,000 0.60% Call A 0.000%
Barclays Bank PLC 30,126,000 0.25% Call A 0.000%
Barclays Bank PLC 10,009,000 1.25% Call A 0.000%
Bank of Scotland PLC 5,000,000 1.10% 07/01/2014 06/01/2015 A 0.001%
Treasury Bill 10,000,000 0.47% 14/07/2014 12/01/2015 AA+ 0.001%
Santander UK PLC 5,000,000 0.72% 01/08/2014 26/02/2015 A 0.014%
Barclays Bank PLC 20,000,000 0.89% 07/03/2014 05/03/2015 A 0.015%
Birmingham City Council 5,000,000 0.52% 08/09/2014 09/03/2015 AA+ 0.003%
Bank of Scotland PLC 4,000,000 0.65% 12/12/2014 12/03/2015 A 0.017%
Santander UK PLC 5,000,000 0.72% 01/08/2014 19/03/2015 A 0.019%
Bank of Scotland PLC 10,000,000 0.82% 14/08/2014 26/03/2015 A 0.020%
Santander UK PLC 5,000,000 0.73% 31/07/2014 26/03/2015 A 0.020%
PCC for Greater Manchester 5,000,000 0.45% 29/12/2014 30/03/2015 AA+ 0.004%
Midlothian Council 5,000,000 0.48% 29/12/2014 30/03/2015 AA+ 0.004%
Lloyds Bank PLC 7,000,000 0.80% 28/11/2014 29/05/2015 A 0.035%
Treasury Bill 10,000,000 0.47% 01/12/2014 01/06/2015 AA+ 0.007%
Bank of Scotland PLC 10,000,000 1.08% 14/08/2014 13/08/2015 A 0.053%
Bank of Scotland PLC 10,000,000 1.08% 18/08/2014 17/08/2015 A 0.054%
Lloyds Bank PLC 10,000,000 1.15% 31/10/2014 01/10/2015 A 0.065%
Nationwide Building Society 10,000,000 0.98% 17/10/2014 16/10/2015 A 0.069%
Bank of Scotland PLC 10,000,000 1.15% 07/11/2014 06/11/2015 A 0.074%
Total Investments £201,120,000 0.75% 0.022%

Above is a table of the £201,120,000 the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority had invested. It’s part of Capita Treasury Solutions’ December 2014 “Monthly Investment Analysis Review” for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority which is part of the papers for a meeting of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Audit Committee and accompanies this report. Continue reading “Labour run Liverpool City Region Combined Authority has £166,120,000 invested in banks despite Labour councillor comparing bankers to "train robbers"”

European update – Chris Davies MEP

Like many in the Lib Dems I receive a regular email from Lib Dem MEP for the North West Chris Davies about all things European. A short quote from him seemed very apt to these elections. It’s something any candidate and agent should take on board. For those who don’t know what canvassing means it refers to going door to door, whether asking people for issues they’d like tackled or if they have made their mind up over who to vote for.

“A nervous candidate told me last week that he was about to start canvassing and asked what reception I was getting on the doorstep. I was happy to tell him that my experience to date had been a lot better than might have been expected from the opinion polls. Sure, there are some who accuse us of betraying trust by forming a coalition with the Tories, and we are losing some votes to other parties in consequence, but a lot of these people never voted for us in the first place. There are still a great many electors out there who like the Liberal Democrats and wish us well. I’m spoilt of course, because I tend to go canvassing with candidates who have worked hard, communicated effectively and have a good track record, but my impression to date confirms the old adage: “where we work, we win.”

Chris Davies also wrote about the rise in the European interest rate and Portugal, Greece and Ireland. He also wrote about upcoming changes to fishery policy. He also wrote about former North West Conservative MEP Den Dover being asked to pay back £345,289.

Here’s the breakdown of some of what your former Conservative MEP is being asked to pay back

Dover made the following illegitimate payments from the allowance paid to MEPs to meet the costs of paying for staff:
£101,068 for three cars
£15,404 for office supplies and equipment, £89,235 for postage and stationery, £100,735 for the costs of rent and renovation of Den Dover’s ‘office’, which just happened to be in his private home, and £20,767 for telephone costs
£17,880 for ‘entertainment expenses’
£200 in donations to the Conservative Party (certainly wrong, but possibly mean too!)

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