Michael Soden, is happy to be presiding over Bank of Ireland's 13th successive rise in profits. Just two years after his arrival at Baggot Street, he says he is enjoying himself and, while he seems intent on pursuing a long career there, likes to boast that he is already well advanced in bestowing his legacy.

The arrival of this personable Dubliner two years ago took everyone by surprise.

Mr Soden, who had spent most of his career working for Citigroup and later National Australia Bank, stunned the markets by floating the notion of a potential merger between Bank of Ireland and AIB. After that, he led a botched attempt to buy Abbey National and for now seems to be satisfied to undertake joint ventures, such as the one concluded with the UK Post Office, rather than to chase big acquisitions in that market.

It would be fair to say that he has puzzled investors and left many analysts sceptical about his strategic objectives for the bank.

At the bank's headquarters, his most visible imprint is on the executive floor where Mr Soden sits in an open plan area surrounded by his top management team. He ordered the removal of the walls that divided this area into a series of offices, insisting that everyone is visible and accessible all of the time.

He says lots of people have "smiled and smirked" about this initiative but he believes it has enhanced working relationships at the bank.

"It's about being open and transparent and about breaking down barriers," he explains.

Mr Soden believes he has introduced great changes within Bank of Ireland over the past couple of years, principally through his pet project, the "leadership standards" initiative. He reaches for his wallet to extract a credit card-sized reference card that is essentially the code he lives by and expects everyone at Bank of Ireland to adhere to.

It encourages his colleagues to "challenge the status quo", "harness talent" and "act authentically". To offer further assistance, it lists the behaviour the bank expects from all on its payroll as well as the behaviour that it frowns upon.

It tells staff that the bank wants them to communicate "honestly and wisely, to match their actions with words, to clearly state what they truly believe and stand for, to treat people fairly and equitably, and to respect and uphold people's dignity".

Things Mr Soden and the bank don't want to witness include "selective communication" or people acting according to "hidden agendas" and it is suggested that individuals shouldn't prefer to "look good rather than do the right thing".

Mr Soden says he is confident that this management tool has triggered a cultural revolution across the Bank of Ireland group and is what he wants to be remembered for.

"This is my legacy to the organisation - the setting of standards and values. That is something I can say that I am proud of," he says. "We are doing a lot of work behind the scenes to get people to live by these standards. It's not about changing the deckchairs. People are accepting these changes and it is cascading down through the organisation."

Maybe it is a timely initiative, coming when rival AIB is being investigated for overcharging certain customers and when the image of banking has taken a battering generally.

Mr Soden says he is confident that his institution is compliant in relation to bank charges and suggests that Irish people get a higher level of service and value for money from financial institutions compared to consumers in other parts of the world.

The flak that is being hurled at Irish bankers, he says, is nothing more than a "knee-jerk" reaction.

"It may have started with politicians, then moved to the church and then made its way to the banks," he says. "We have an implied contract with our customers, a very tenuous contract that we can't allow to be broken."

People who use Bank of Ireland's branches and services in Ireland provide the base from which the bank derives most profits and are its most valuable assets.

In the 12 months to the end of March, its retail banking operations generated €419 million of the group's €1.26 billion profits and this is expected to increase again this year.

The bank's profits are broadly in line with market expectations as it delivered on its promise to grow its mortgage business, to restructure its UK activities and to trim its costs, and yet this profitable company's share price is in the doldrums.

Mr Soden says he can only conclude that Bank of Ireland just isn't "sexy enough" for investors.

"What are they looking for if it's not a company that is continually delivering double-digit growth?" he wonders.

The bank is now the Republic's biggest mortgage lender and its second-largest provider of other core banking services, such as current accounts.

The Competition Authority is examining areas where consumers could benefit from greater competition while Bank of Scotland has promised to expand into retail banking to offer Irish consumers greater choice.

Mr Soden says increased competition holds no threat to his group's profitability and he seems decidedly dismissive of Bank of Scotland's utterances on this subject.

Since Bank of Scotland's onslaught on the Irish mortgage market in 1999, Mr Soden points out that Bank of Ireland has increased its market share from 22 to 29 per cent.

"Players come and go in this market and some make a lot of noise. This is our turf. I wonder how the Scots would react if we were opening our mouth in their market. You would have to wonder how those making that noise relate to views of the power base in their parent company," he said.

Whatever the market view of this controversial chief executive, he is taking it all in his stride. For now he is enjoying the bank's strong performance and has assured investors that Bank of Ireland is on course to deliver at least the same increase in profits again next year. He says: "It's lovely to be here."