BANK OF Ireland (BoI) has appointed an internal candidate, Richie Boucher – head of the bank’s Irish operations – as chief executive to replace Brian Goggin.
Mr Boucher, who joined the bank in 2003, was one of the two leading internal candidates interviewed for the job. Des Crowley, chief executive of the bank’s UK business was also a candidate.
Mr Goggin said last month that he would be stepping down this summer, a year earlier than originally expected. His departure was subsequently brought forward.
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan told the Dáil last week that Mr Goggin would be leaving the bank within three weeks.
BoI said it interviewed internal and external candidates using recruitment companies in Ireland and the UK.
“The board conducted an extensive search using search companies in Ireland and London,” said a spokesman for the bank.
“A number of internal and external candidates were interviewed and Richie Boucher was chosen as the best candidate emerging from the process.”
The bank’s “nominations and governance committee”, which was led by the bank’s governor, Richard Burrows, interviewed candidates and selected Mr Boucher.
Mr Burrows said that Mr Boucher had “a broad range of banking experience” and that he will provide “strong leadership at this very challenging time”.
Mr Boucher said he was “very conscious of the current state of the financial services industry, the low opinion in which the general public views banks and the very difficult . . . conditions that we face”.
“I fully accept that we have an uphill battle as we work towards restoring the trust and confidence of our customers, stockholders and the general public,” he said.
He said that he was “deeply conscious and very appreciative” of the commitment of €3.5 billion in public money to support the bank and that the bank was “committed to supporting our customers through these difficult times”.
The bank’s share price rose 4.6 per cent, or 1.4 cent, to €0.29, valuing the bank at €281 million.
Mr Boucher’s salary will be determined by the bank in consultation with the Government’s bank executive remuneration committee, which is due to report to Mr Lenihan by March 5th
The Minister told the Dáil last week that the Government would be the ultimate arbiter for the new chief executive’s pay package. Mr Lenihan has said the salary would be significantly lower than the “less than €2 million” Mr Goggin expects to receive this year.
Labour finance spokeswoman Joan Burton said the appointment of an internal candidate would be viewed as “a signal of ‘business as usual’”.
The bank has traditionally chosen long-serving executives for its top position.
The bank moved quickly to announce Mr Goggin’s successor ahead of the extraordinary general meeting, which is expected next month, to approve the State’s €3.5 billion recapitalisation plan.
Headhunted from RBS in 2003
RICHIE BOUCHER has worked with Bank of Ireland since December 2003 when he was headhunted from Ulster Bank's parent company, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), to become the bank's head of corporate banking.
He was previously head of corporate banking at Ulster Bank and later managing director of corporate banking at RBS for London and south-east England.
Born in Zambia, Mr Boucher (50) was educated at Rockwell College, Co Tipperary, and Trinity College Dublin, where he graduated with a degree in business before pursuing a career in banking.
Mr Boucher was paid €1.457 million in the bank's financial year to March 31st, 2008, up from €1.015 million the previous year.
His 2008 pay included a salary of €550,000 and bonus payments totalling €535,000. He owns 33,127 Bank of Ireland shares, having last bought 2,815 units at €4.51 a share on July 15th. The stock closed at €0.28 yesterday, valuing his stake at €9,275 – down from €149,400 in July.
In January 2006, Mr Boucher became chief executive of the bank's retail financial services division, which is essentially the head of the bank's Irish operations.
He took over the position from Des Crowley, who was also in the running to succeed Mr Goggin. Mr Crowley is in charge of the bank's UK financial services division.
Mr Boucher became a director of the bank in October 2006.
He has represented the bank publicly at recent Oireachtas committee hearings. He appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance and the Public Service in December to answer queries about the reduced flow of credit into the economy. He oversaw the growth of the bank's Irish development and landbank loans to €7.1 billion.
The bank expects to write off up to €6 billion on loan losses over three years in a worst-case scenario. Many of the losses are expected on development loans.
