Allied Irish Banks is looking at forming an alliance with a Scandinavian bank and plans to buy more privatised banking assets in Poland, according to its chief financial officer, Mr Declan McSweeney. Speaking at a Goodbody Stockbrokers' investment conference in New York, Mr McSweeney said AIB could remain independent in the face of the ongoing consolidation in the European financial services sector.

AIB is one of a shortlist of four drawn up by the Polish central bank to buy a 41 per cent stake in BPH, the country's seventh largest bank with a market share of 4 per cent. If AIB is successful in its bid, it could involve a payment of more than £250 million to the Polish government. AIB already has a controlling stake in another Polish bank, WBK.