Bank of Ireland appoints Tony Morley as group treasurer

Bank of Ireland has appointed internal candidate Tony Morley as its new group treasurer, reporting to chief financial officer Myles O'Grady.

Mr Morley succeeds Sean Crowe, who left the bank at the end of last year, having been a key figure in the group's emergency fundraising during the financial crisis.

Mr Morley has held a number of senior roles since rejoining the bank in 2013 from BDO Ireland, and most recently served as head of group balance sheet management. He previously worked for the bank between 1993 and 2005, before working in the private clients division of Davy for a period.

In his new role Mr Morley has overall responsibility for the formulation and execution of Bank of Ireland’s liquidity, funding and capital management strategies. He will also continue in his roles on the group asset and liability committee and as non-executive director of Bank of Ireland Mortgage Bank.

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Problem mortgages

The appointment comes a time when Bank of Ireland is planning to sell a portfolio of non-performing mortgages this year. The bank had postponed a planned sale of a batch of problem mortgages last year – which was to be carried out by a way of a bond market refinancing, or securitisation – as it focused on the evolving coronavirus crisis.

The bank, led by chief executive Francesca McDonagh, is also circling Davy, which was put up for sale last month as the stockbroking firm seeks to restore trust following a bond-deal scandal.

Bank of Ireland disclosed earlier this month that it is reducing the number of physical branches it has by 88 to 169 from September onwards.

The bank has cut its overall running costs from €1.9 billion in 2007 to €1.7 billion last year. It said earlier this month, as it reported an underlying pretax loss of €374 million for last year after setting aside €1.1 billion for expected Covid-related bad loan losses, that it plans to reduce expenses to €1.5 billion by 2023.