Press release
Minister Donohoe announces intention to sign and execute Escrow Framework Deed with Apple giving legal effect to recovery of alleged State aid
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD, has confirmed that the Escrow Framework Deed which sets out the detailed legal agreement regarding the recovery of the alleged State aid will be signed by the Minister and Apple today (Tuesday).
This is a significant milestone with regard to the commencement of the recovery of the alleged State aid, as the Escrow Framework Deed is the overarching agreement which will govern the collection and eventual payment of funds.
It follows on from the recent announcements that the Bank of New York Mellon, London Branch has been selected as preferred tenderer for the provision of escrow agency and custodian services and that Amundi, BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited and Goldman Sachs Asset Management International have been selected as preferred tenderers for the provision of investment management services.
The signing of the Escrow Framework Deed by both the Minister for Finance and Apple now allows for the appointment of the Escrow Agent / Custodian and the Investment Managers.
This in turn activates the process for the collection of the alleged State aid. It allows for the opening of the formal accounts into which the funds will be paid and ensures the timeline for the flow of funds in Q2 and Q3 of 2018 will be adhered to.
It is anticipated that the funds will flow into the Escrow Fund in significant tranches. It is expected that the full recovery will be effected by the end of Q3 2018.
Speaking today Minister Donohoe said:
“The Government fundamentally disagrees with the ruling of the Commission. However, as committed members of the European Union, Ireland is intent on complying with our binding legal obligations in this regard. This is the largest recovery fund of its kind ever to be established and due to the complexity of such, together with our duty to comply with EU procurement rules, it has taken some time to get to this point. I am happy that I can sign the deed with Apple today, which has been the subject of difficult and intensive work. Once the infrastructure associated with the escrow is put in place, following the execution of the deed, I expect that recovery of the funds will be completed by end Q3 2018.”
ENDS