New EBS chief faces fight to defend last of mutuals

One More Thing:The new chief executive of EBS Building Society, whose appointment is thought to be imminent, will have a tough job on their hands, as the society will have to fight to remain mutual. They will certainly earn their €760,000-a- year remuneration package.

Various names have been mentioned within the banking sector as to who the new chief will be. Among the most obvious candidates being mooted are several heads of mortgage lending at the country's main banks, who might be lured by higher pay and the chance to steer their own ship.

The challenges facing the next EBS chief will be magnified over the next year, particularly if Irish Nationwide Building Society is sold. If such a deal proceeds - and Michael Fingleton and the Irish Nationwide board are keen for it to happen this year (despite the poor valuation climate for financial stocks) - EBS will be the last of the mutuals. The case for remaining mutual may prove difficult to argue.

EBS has refused to demutualise like its former peers, Irish Permanent and First National, whose members benefited through windfalls

The building society has said that by remaining mutual it can instead offer its members better mortgage and savings deals. However, in recent years, as competition increased in the banking market, these deals are broadly similar to what was on offer from its rivals.

The competition in the mortgage market is likely to become more ferocious in a slowing market and it is hard to see why EBS should retain its mutual status, especially as borrowers become less loyal to lenders and search for cheaper mortgages and savings deals elsewhere.

The liquidity freeze has also raised the question of whether EBS might be better off in a larger financial group where it does not have to dabble in the now precarious market for wholesale funding.

Outgoing EBS chief executive Ted McGovern pleaded the society's case for a compromise in last year's Building Societies (Amendment) Act, which paved the way for Irish Nationwide's sale while protecting the EBS's mutuality.

Late last year the society rejected an unsolicited takeover approach from AIB, and it has since maintained a very public stance of wishing to remain mutual.

Given that any bidder will - under last year's law - have to wait five years to take over EBS, it would be likely to be a long courtship if a suitor were to make a move.

The first task of the new chief executive may well be to reject further advances; but perhaps McGovern's successor might be more open to an approach.