Archie Kane to head up Bank of Ireland

City Editor

Thursday 21 June 2012

SENIOR Scottish banking executive Archie Kane is returning to financial services as governor of part-nationalised Bank of Ireland just a year after exiting Lloyds Banking Group.

APPOINTMENT: Archie Kane is returning to financial services as governor of part-nationalised Bank of Ireland. Picture: Gordon Terris

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TIM SHARP CITY EDITOR

Mr Kane sat on the board of 41% state-owned Lloyds as executive director for insurance and Scotland until taking retirement in a shake-up by incoming chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio in March 2011.

His appointment will see him oversee another bank with a state investor, in an economy that was even harder hit by the financial crisis than the UK having taken an international bailout in 2010.

Mr Kane said: "I am pleased to be taking up this role in Bank of Ireland at this important time for the bank and for the Irish economy."He spent more than a decade on the board of Lloyds and as head of the insurance arm of Lloyds TSB and later Lloyds Banking Group, oversaw its Edinburgh-based pensions and investment business Scottish Widows.After Lloyds' rescue takeover of Halifax Bank of Scotland, he chaired the Scottish executive committee created by the combined bank in 2009.Mr Kane has been co-opted as a non-executive director of Bank of Ireland with immediate effect.He will replace incumbent Pat Molloy, the bank's former chief executive, as governor on June 29.If his fees are in line with those of Mr Molloy, Mr Kane will receive around €400,000 (£323,000) a year for the three or four-day-a-week role.A key achievement of Mr Molloy's three-year stint as Bank of Ireland governor was its recapitalisation last summer.The sale of a 34.9% stake to North American investors in return for a €1.1bn injection ensured that Bank of Ireland avoided full nationalisation and the state's holding in the bank fell from 36% to 15.1%.Two of those investors, American billionaire Wilbur Ross, head of buyout group WL Ross, and Prem Watsa, chairman and chief executive of Fairfax Financial Holdings, have been appointed non-executive directors.Mr Kane said: "Bank of Ireland has made a lot of progress in raising capital while remaining in private ownership."He added: "The bank recognises that there is more to be done in restoring profitability and in achieving its strategic objectives – and in so doing contributing positively to the economies in which the bank operates, particularly the Irish economy."Mr Molloy said: "Among other things the depth of Archie's experience in the UK financial services industry will assist the group's pursuit of its strategic ambitions for that market while his extensive knowledge of retail banking and large change management programmes will enable Archie to make a very meaningful contribution to the ongoing development of the group's Irish businesses."Mr Kane holds a degree in accountancy from Glasgow University and obtained an MBA from City University.He trained as a chartered accountant and worked in industry for six years before joining TSB Bank in 1986.He was appointed to the Lloyds TSB board in 2000 and was chairman of the Association of British Insurers from 2007 to 2010.

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Archie Kane to head up Bank of Ireland

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