BoI tightlipped on rumours Goggin to quit
Monday January 12 2009
THE Bank of Ireland has declined to comment on reports that its chief executive, Brian Goggin, is preparing to quit his job in a few months.
But industry sources say Mr Goggin, who earned a record €4m in 2007, is likely to be the first of several top bankers to depart voluntarily after the injection of taxpayers' money into the banks in March. It is believed that the process would have begun already, had it not been for the forced resignations of Anglo-Irish chairman Sean FitzPatrick and chief executive David Drumm over the concealment of more than €80m in loans to Mr FitzPatrick.
Other top executives, who officially will be leaving of their own accord, did not want to be associated with the Anglo departures.
At the weekend, Financial Regulator Patrick Neary announced his retirement after an investigation failed to find out why the Finance Minister was not informed as soon as the existence of the loans was discovered. Anglo's finance director, Willie McCarter, also stepped down.
Mr Lenihan is understood to feel that all the bosses of the six guaranteed banks should leave after the injection of €7bn of public funds to boost their depleted capital, along with most of their directors.
In an interview last week, he said it was not generally appreciated "how far the banks had departed from their moorings".
The chief executive most likely to hold on, if he wishes too, is believed to be AIB boss Eugene Sheehy. But Mr Sheehy abandoned his pledge not to take any government funding, which may weaken his position. An AIB spokeswoman said: "Eugene Sheehy has the full support of the AIB board and there is no question of his resignation."
One potential problem for Mr Lenihan is that the top bankers who have not been accused of any wrongdoing may be entitled to six-figure severance terms. Any such payments are likely to produce an uproar among taxpayers, small shareholders and politicians.
- Joe Brennan and Brendan Keenan
