The board of the Hibernian group has accepted that a strong business case exists for the closure of its €7 billion Irish investment management operations and intends to speedily conclude a review process.

In a statement following a board meeting yesterday, the group announced that a sub-committee had been established, which will be headed by chairman Mr Peter Malone, to advance the review process. Its work is expected to last for between six and 10 weeks.

"The board understands and endorses the review process into Hibernian Investment Managers (HIM) announced this week. It agrees in principle with the strong business case for its closure. However, a review process is under way from which alternative proposals may emerge," the statement said.

It added that the board's central concern was the welfare of HIM's employees and customers. HIM, which is part of the UK Morley Fund Management operations of its parent company, Aviva, employs 59 staff in Dublin.

It has put forward a proposal to close HIM and to transfer its €7 million to Morley in London.

Morley manages total assets worth £115 billion sterling (€161.2 billion), which includes funds operated out of Boston, Warsaw, Melbourne and Singapore.

The Irish management team is expected to put forward a counter proposal, arguing that the business should be retained in Ireland, something which would require further investment. This proposal will be considered by the sub-committee and a consultation process with staff is expected to get under way shortly.

Mr Jerry Shanahan of the AMICUS Manufacturing Science Finance trade union, which represents most of the HIM staff, has said that significant consideration must be given to all possibilities.

HIM staff are contracted to the Hibernian life and general group, even though the fund management arm is a separate company. This would indicate that even if the business were to close, staff would be able to transfer back to the Hibernian group, although some may opt for voluntary redundancy.