ALLIED IRISH Banks has named Dara Rowley as its new chief credit officer after long-serving executive Joe O’Connor resigned following the restructuring of the bank’s internal credit structures.
An AIB spokesman said Mr Rowley worked previously for the capital markets division but more recently has been in AIB’s new corporate, institutional and commercial division.
Mr O’Connor held differing views with the bank’s executive team on how the separate credit controls – a key reason for the bank’s heavy losses on property lending – should be restructured, although his departure was described by the bank as amicable.
The restructuring of the credit structures was signed off by the bank’s executive management committee and board last week.
The new structure is based around a three-line defence on loan approvals – the first at the front-end business, the second at the bank’s group risk department and the third by internal audit.
Mr O’Connor is remaining on for a time to work with Mr Rowley on the handover of the functions.
Previously chief credit officer at AIB Capital Markets under the unit’s managing director Colm Doherty, Mr O’Connor was promoted to the role of chief credit officer in 2010 after Mr Doherty became managing director of the overall bank following the departure of chief executive Eugene Sheehy in the autumn of 2009.
AIB has yet to replace Alessio Miranda as head of internal audit. Mr Miranda, who has held the job since 2006, submitted a letter of resignation in recent weeks.
The search for a new chief executive is also continuing with the shortlist down to three candidates, all of whom are working overseas.
Anglo Irish Bank chief executive Mike Aynsley was among the candidates but he withdrew his name during the summer.
The Central Bank and the Department of Finance are being consulted on the bank’s selection of a chief executive, a role executive chairman David Hodgkinson has said would be appointed in late September or early October.
The “siloed” nature of AIB’s credit approval structure was cited as one of the reasons for the bank’s excessive exposure to property development and the subsequent losses that have led to State bailouts totalling €20.7 billion and the nationalisation of the bank.
Mr Hodgkinson has said that the restructuring was the most challenging undertaken by AIB, converting the bank from “a model of entirely separate businesses to a ‘one bank’ model”.
Consultants Deloitte said in a report for AIB earlier this year that the bank had failed to address credit risk problems. Consultants Promontory found AIB had separated front-line “business-getters” from those sanctioning loan approvals since the banking crisis.
