Former AIB executive Fergus Murphy to join Clydesdale bank

Outgoing AIB executive Fergus Murphy is to join the Clydesdale bank in the UK as director of products, where he will team up again with David Duffy, who moved from Bankcentre this year to become the Scottish bank's chief executive.

Mr Murphy’s appointment is subject to regulatory approvals and he will start in early 2016. He becomes the third former AIB banker to join the Clydesdale this year - the other being Enda Johnson, a former head of corporate affairs and strategy at the Irish bank.

The Clydesdale business incorporates Yorkshire Bank and is due to be floated on the stock market in February by its parent company, National Australia Bank.

Mr Murphy's previous roles include a period as CEO for the Asia region for Rabobank International. He took over as chief executive of EBS Building Society in January 2008, just nine months before the Government's bank guarantee.

EBS was later bailed out by the State and merged with AIB in 2011. Mr Murphy subsequently took a senior executive role with AIB and was runner-up to Bernard Byrne in the race to replace Mr Duffy as CEO.

Speaking to The Irish Times, Mr Murphy said he was looking forward to the “excitement” of the IPO and building Clydesdale into being a “natural alternative bank” to the established players as a “standalone entity.

Mr Duffy had asked him to “do the same job [AS AT AIB]in building Clydesdale’s product range” for its 2 million customers, he said.

“It will be exciting working with David again. We get on well and are good colleagues.”

On his decision to leave AIB, Mr Murphy said: “Having done nearly eight years of crisis banking in Ireland, and gone through the CEO process earlier this year, it’s probably natural that the person who didn’t become CEO would move on. This will be an exciting new chapter in my life.”

In a note to Clydesdale staff, Mr Duffy said Mr Murphy would have responsibility for the delivery of its product suite including pricing, liability strategy and capital allocation.

Mr Duffy made reference to Mr Murphy’s time with AIB, where he was a director of products and capital markets. “With end-to-end responsibility for the product portfolio, he played an instrumental role in transforming the bank’s product offering to meet customer needs and strengthen financial performance,” he said.