Former INM chief Vincent Crowley appointed as Davy chairman

Davy, the stockbroking and wealth management firm reacquired by Bank of Ireland this year, has appointed former Independent New & Media (INM) chief executive Vincent Crowley as its new chairman.

Mr Crowley succeeds John Corrigan, the one-time head of the National Treasury Management Agency, who joined Davy as chairman in 2015 and oversaw an executive overhaul and sale of the firm in the wake of a regulatory fine last year over a controversial 2014 bonds trade.

Mr Crowley is an experienced board room operator who currently serves on as a non-executive director of DIY retailer and builders merchants company Grafton Group, cider maker C&C, and Altas Investments, which has assets in the road and energy storage sectors.

He worked for INM for 24 years to 2014, latterly as chief executive of the group. The newspaper publishing group has since been taken over and renamed as Mediahuis.

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“As incoming chairman I wish to acknowledge the support and assistance provided by John in ensuring a seamless transition of ownership and governance for which we are most grateful,” Mr Crowley said in a statement.

“Under new ownership and with the support of a top-class management team, exceptional staff and a reconstituted board, I believe Davy is well positioned to enhance and extend its service offering for its clients and to further grow its franchise and its ambition over the coming years.”

Mr Corrigan oversaw Davy putting itself on the market in March last year as the firm grappled with the fallout from a €4.1 million Central Bank fine relating to a bond trade dating back to 2014. Davy was found to be in breach of market rules for failing to identify whether a conflict of interest existed as 16 employees bought junior bonds in Anglo Irish Bank from a client in November 2014 without disclosing that they were the buyers.

The controversy also led to the exits of senior figures at Davy and appointment of Bernard Byrne, the former AIB chief executive who had joined the firm in 2019 as head of its capital markets division, as group CEO.

The Irish Times reported last week that Davy staff have been warned that the firm’s bonus pot for this year will decline sharply as its capital markets division is on track to swing into a loss.

It is understood that the capital markets unit is on track to post a pretax loss of more than €10 million, compared to a profit of about €20 million last year. This area of the business comprises an institutional business overseeing equities research and trading, as well as corporate finance and broking operations.

However, sources said the overall Davy group, which was bought by Bank of Ireland in June in a €427 million deal, remains on track to post a full-year profit. Bank of Ireland had previously sold Davy to the firm’s management and staff in 2006.