Bank of Ireland has appointed Michael Torpey as chief executive of its corporate and treasury division.

He will also serve as a member of the group executive committee and is expected to take up his post at the bank around the end of March.

Mr Torpey will join the bank from the Department of Finance, where he is head of the shareholder management unit. The unit manages the State’s shareholding in Irish Life, AIB, Bank of Ireland, Permanent TSB, Irish Bank Resolution Corporation. Its remit includes the National Asset Management Agency .

Mr Torpey joined the department in May 2010 having held a senior position within the National Treasury Management Agency.

The corporate and treasury division in Bank of Ireland had been led on an acting basis by Denis Donovan who combined the role with that as head of its group non-core division.

Mr Donovan will continue to lead the non-core division, which is responsible for deleveraging and restructuring initiatives within the bank.

Bank of Ireland chief executive Richie Boucher said Mr Torpey had “vast experience of the banking sector” and his “in-depth knowledge of Bank of Ireland will contribute greatly to the implementation of our business strategies and to our dealing with the challenges and opportunities ahead”.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan said Mr Torpey had “contributed greatly to the restructuring of the Irish banking sector”.

“Over the past number of years, the department has recruited a large number of skilled people from the private sector and is committed, in line with Government policy, to encouraging greater mobility between the public and private sector,” the Minister added.

“Michael’s departure is an example of this increased mobility and I am sure that many more highly skilled individuals will move in both directions . . . in the years ahead.”