Australian banker Mike Aynsley is the new chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank.
Announcing the appointment, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said that Mr Aynsley was an important appointment for Anglo, in what are challenging times for all financial institutions.
Mr Lenihan said that after the appointment of Mr Aynsley as CEO, the current executive chairman of the bank, Donal O'Connor, will revert to the position of chairman. Mr Aynsley will take up his post on September 7.
The Minister also said today that Anglo's restructuring plan, which will set out the future strategy for the bank, will be submitted to the EU Commission for approval by the end of November.
The appointment has been approved by the Financial Regulator, a statement from Anglo Irish Bank said this evening.
Mr Aynsley is in his 50s and is from Sydney. He has worked in the banking industry in Australia and Asia and most recently worked with the Asian Development Bank in South East Asia in the financial sector development, risk management, liquidity management and governance risk assessment areas.
He has also worked for Security Pacific, which is now part of Bank of America in the late 1980s, stockbroker Hoare Govett and also former National Irish Bank owner National Australia Bank. He was head of capital markets and treasury during the 1990s there.
He also spent two years as head of risk at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group.
Anglo Irish Bank has been without a chief executive since December when David Drumm resigned after the news that the bank had concealed loans of up to €122m to its former chairman Sean Fitzpatrick.
The bank was nationalised in January. It reported the biggest lost in Irish corporate history this year when it made a loss of €4.1 billion in the six months to March on the back of large impairments on its property loans to developers.
In a statement this afternoon, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said he looked forward to further appointments to senior management roles in the bank to lead it through its 'current challenges'.
'This is the first step in establishing a new leadership team in Anglo Irish Bank and the board is pleased to be appointing a group chief executive with strong capabilities, expertise and excellent experience', commented Donal O'Connor.
'Mike will play a key role in the appointment of the leadership team, a process which will accelerate once he is on board. Our on-going focus is to stabilise and de-risk the Bank, and, in time, to create options for the shareholders,' he added.
