Corporate Governance

AIB Group plc is the holding company for Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. (AIB).

AIB is a financial services group operating predominantly in Ireland and the United Kingdom. We provide a range of services to retail, business and corporate customers, with market-leading positions in key segments. AIB is the principal brand across all geographies. In Ireland, EBS is our challenger brand and Haven is our mortgage broker channel.

With over 3 million customers, we are committed to backing sustainable communities. We pledge to do more to support the transition to a low-carbon economy.

AIB Group plc is listed on the Main Securities Market of Euronext Dublin and has a premium listing on the London Stock Exchange. Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. is a Credit Institution licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland and is subject to the provisions of the Central Bank of Ireland's Corporate Governance Requirements for Credit Institutions 2015.

References on these pages to “AIB”, “the Group” and/or “the AIB Group” refer to AIB Group plc and its subsidiaries. References on these pages to the “Company” refer to AIB Group plc and Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c.  References to “Board” and/or “Committee” refer to the boards of directors and subcommittees of both AIB Group plc and Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. 

The Board and Board Committees of AIB Group plc and Allied Irish Banks, p.l.c. are mostly the same, therefore we apply relevant corporate governance requirements and codes to both entities. Other regulation and guidance may apply to our subsidiaries.

Certain information on the Group is provided on this website for ease of reference or due to legislation, regulation or best practice guidance. More detailed and additional information on the corporate governance structures in place across the Group is also available in the Corporate Governance Section of the Annual Financial Report each year available here.

The Group’s Governance Framework underpins effective decision-making and accountability. It is the basis on which the Group conducts its business and engages with customers and stakeholders. It ensures that organisational and control arrangements are appropriate to the governance of the Group’s strategy and operations and the mitigation of related material risks. This framework encompasses AIB Group plc and its subsidiaries.

Corporate Governance Requirements and Codes

AIB’s corporate governance practices meet the many statutory and regulatory obligations that apply to the Group including various corporate governance codes, regulations and best practice standards and guidelines, Irish company law, the Listing Rules of the Main Securities Market of Euronext Dublin and the London Stock Exchange, the UK Corporate Governance Code 2018 and, for UK businesses, UK company law.

As a credit institution, AIB is subject to the requirements of the Central Bank of Ireland’s Corporate Governance Requirements for Credit Institutions, including requirements which specifically relate to ‘high impact institutions’. Additional corporate governance obligations for significant credit institutions are met for the purposes of the European Union (Capital Requirements) Regulations 2014 (CRD) (which transposed the EU Capital Requirements Directive into domestic law).

Compliance with CRD

Regulation 84 of CRD requires institutions to explain, on their website, how they comply with the certain regulations contained in CRD. The document which sets out how AIB complies with the requirements of Regulations 76 to 83 of CRD, which relate primarily to Governance, Remuneration, and Reporting, can be found here.

The Group is headed by an effective Board which is collectively responsible for the long-term sustainable success of the Group, generating value for shareholders and contributing to wider society. The Board, including the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is supported by the Executive Committee, being the most senior management committee of the Group. The Board is responsible for maintaining effective oversight of the Group consistent with Board approved policy.

The Board maintains a clear division of responsibilities, including between the Chair, who is responsible for the overall leadership of the Board and for ensuring its effectiveness, and the CEO, who manages and leads the business. The governance framework and organisational structure are sufficient to ensure that no one individual has unfettered powers of decision or exercises excessive influence. Key roles and responsibilities and a formal schedule of matters specifically reserved for Board decision are clearly defined, documented and communicated to key stakeholders on this site.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

The Board is responsible for corporate governance, encompassing leadership, direction and control of the Group. It assesses the basis on which the Group generates and preserves value over the long term and is accountable to shareholders for financial performance. The Board is also responsible for approving high-level policy and strategic direction in relation to the nature and scale of risk that the Group is prepared to assume in order to achieve its strategic objectives, and for maintaining an appropriate system of internal controls.

While arrangements have been made by the Directors for delegation of the management, organisation and administration of the Group’s affairs, certain matters are specifically reserved for decision by the Board which are available here.

Relationship with the Irish State

The Group has received significant support from the Irish State in the context of the financial crisis due to its systemic importance to the Irish financial system. Following a reduction in its shareholding during 2017, and further reductions in 2022, 2023 and 2024, as at 13 December 2024, the State holds 18.99% of the issued ordinary shares of AIB Group plc.

The relationship between the Group and the State is governed by a Relationship Framework.

Within the Relationship Framework, with the exception of a number of important items requiring advance consultation with or approval by the State, the Board retains responsibility and authority for all of the operations and business of the Group in accordance with its legal and fiduciary duties and retains responsibility and authority for ensuring compliance with the Group’s regulatory and legal obligations.

Board Meetings

The Chair and the Chairs of each Committee ensure Board and Committee meetings are structured to facilitate open discussion, constructive challenge and debate. The Board receives a comprehensive Executive Management report on a regular basis. The remainder of its agenda is built from the indicative annual work programme, strategic items for consideration, any activities out of the ordinary course of business, requested in depth reviews and scheduled updates on key projects. There is a set escalation process in place through Executive and Board Committees which ensures the Board receives the necessary information at the appropriate time to enable the right decisions to be taken. The Chair leads the agenda setting process, supported by the CEO and Company Secretary.

Attendance at Board meetings and Board Committee meetings is outlined in the Corporate Governance chapter and the respective Committee reports within the Annual Financial Report here. The Non-Executive Directors also meet on a number of occasions every year in the absence of the Executive Directors.

Board Effectiveness and Performance Evaluation

The Board conducts an annual evaluation of its effectiveness, and is required to have an external evaluation conducted once every three years. The Chair of the Board leads the annual review of the Board’s effectiveness, that of its Committees and individual Directors with the support of the Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee.

The aim of these evaluations is to review the Board’s composition, expertise, diversity and how effectively members work together to achieve objectives. Full details of the most recent Effectiveness Evaluation can be found in the Annual Financial Report here.

Conflicts of Interest

The Board approved Code of Conduct and Conflicts of Interest Policy for Directors sets out how actual, potential or perceived conflicts of interest are to be evaluated, reported and managed to ensure that Directors act at all times in the best interests of the Group and its stakeholders. Executive Directors, as employees of the Group, are also subject to the Group’s Code of Conduct and Conflicts of Interests Policy for employees.

Diversity

Employee diversity and inclusion in AIB Group is addressed through policy, practices and values which recognise that a productive workforce comprises different work styles, cultures, generations, genders and ethnic backgrounds. AIB Group opposes all forms of unlawful or unfair discrimination. The efficacy of related policy and practices and the embedding of the Group’s values is overseen by the Board.

The Board recognises and embraces the benefits of diversity among its own Members, including diversity of skills, experience, background, gender and other qualities and is committed to achieving the most appropriate blend and balance of diversity possible over time.

While the Board recognises that the diversity is wider than gender, in order to maintain its objective of a diverse Board, it has set measurable targets and objectives around the under-represented gender in its Board Diversity Policy.

At 31 December 2023, the percentage of females on the Board stood at 40% and thus achieved the target of 40% set out in the Policy. A copy of the Board Diversity Policy which applies to the Group is available here. 

The Board is assisted in fulfilling its duties by a number of Board Committees, whose purpose it is to consider, in greater depth than would be practicable at Board meetings, matters for which the Board retains responsibility. Each Committee operates under Terms of Reference approved by the Board.

The Terms of Reference of the Board and Advisory Committees are available at the following links:

Board Audit Committee Terms of Reference are available here.

BAC monitor and review the scope, nature and effectiveness of the work of the internal audit function. The internal audit functions responsibilities and mandate are set out in the Group Internal Audit (GIA) Charter which is available here

Board Risk Committee Terms of Reference are available here.

Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee Terms of Reference are available here.

Remuneration Committee Terms of Reference are available here.

Sustainable Business Advisory Committee Terms of Reference are available here.

Technology and Data Advisory Committee Terms of Reference are available here. 

Reports on the activities of each of the Committees, can be found in the Governance and Oversight section of the Annual Financial Report.

Details of current members of each Board Committee are located under the ‘Biographies and Committee Memberships’ section of The Board thumbnail on this website.

The Board is collectively responsible for the long-term, sustainable success of the AIB Group and ensuring that there is a clear and cohesive corporate governance structure in place. The Board comprises the Chair, Independent Non-Executive Directors and Executive Directors.

- Chair

The Chair leads the Board, setting its agenda, ensuring Directors receive adequate, accurate and timely information, facilitating the effective contribution of the Non- Executive Directors, ensuring the proper induction of new Directors, the on-going training and development of all Directors, and reviewing the performance of individual Directors. The role of the Chair is separate from the role of the CEO, with clearly-defined responsibilities attaching to each; these are set out in writing and agreed by the Board.

- Deputy Chair

The Deputy Chair, who may be appointed from time to time, deputises in the absence of the Chair. The Deputy Chair would assume the role of the Chair for Board meetings and other tasks as required from time to time.

- Senior Independent Director

The Senior Independent Director (“SID”), acts as a conduit for the views of shareholders and is available as an alternate point of contact to address any concerns or issues they feel have not been adequately dealt with through the usual channels of communication. The SID also leads the annual review of the Chair’s performance and succession planning for the Chair’s role. The SID attends meetings with major shareholders to listen to their views in order to develop a balanced understanding of the issues of concern to them.

- Independent Non-Executive Directors

As an integral component of the Board, Independent Non-Executive Directors represent a key layer of oversight of the activities of the Group. In their role, Independent Non-Executive Directors scrutinise the performance of management in their objectives and monitor their reporting on performance. They bring an independent viewpoint to the deliberations of the Board that is objective and independent of the activities of the management and of the Group. They constructively challenge and help develop proposals on strategy and other key matters.

- Executive Directors

Executive Directors have executive functions in the Group in addition to their Board duties. The role of Executive Directors, led by the CEO, is to propose strategies to the Board and, following challenging Board scrutiny, to execute the agreed strategies to the highest possible standards. 

Biographies and Committee Memberships

Jim Pettigrew, Non-Executive Director and Chair

Appointed: 28/10/2021

Background & Experience: Jim has over 35 years’ experience in UK and international financial services leadership in public listed and private company environments, including at board level, as CEO and as Chair. He was Chair of Scottish Financial Services, the Scottish financial services trade body. He also served as Co-Chair of Scotland’s Financial Services Advisory Board and is a former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. He retired as Chair of Virgin Money and CYBG plc in 2020. He has built considerable non-executive experience over the past 13 years across retail, wholesale and investment banking, asset and wealth management and the insurance sectors. Jim is a Chartered Accountant and Fellow of the Association of Corporate Treasurers. He has a LLB from Aberdeen University and a DipACC from Glasgow University.

Committee Membership(s): Member of Nomination and Corporate Governance & Remuneration Committees.

Anik Chaumartin - Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed: 01/07/2021

Background & Experience: Anik has over 38 years' international experience in professional services experience. She was a partner in PwC in Paris for 27 years, and held various leadership positions in the firm for 15 of those years. During her time in PwC she has acted in the roles of Global Client Relationship Partner and Lead Audit Partner for a number of major banking and financial services organisations.

Committee Membership(s): Board Audit Committee and Sustainable Business Advisory Committee.

Basil Geoghegan – Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed: 04/09/2019

Background & Experience: Basil is a partner in the Strategic Advisory Group at PJT Partners in London. Previously, Basil was a Managing Director at Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup in London and New York. He has broad M&A, corporate finance and strategic advisory experience in the US, UK, Ireland and internationally. He qualified as a solicitor with Slaughter and May. Basil is Chair of daa plc and is a Patron of The Ireland Fund of Great Britain. He holds an LLB from Trinity College, Dublin and an LLM from the European University Institute.

Committee Membership(s): Board Risk Committee.

Tanya Horgan - Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed: 14/09/2021

Background & Experience: Tanya is a Chartered Accountant with extensive industry-based experience in the areas of compliance, internal audit and risk management and has over twenty years’ experience in publicly listed companies. Tanya trained and qualified with PwC. She has since held roles in a number of organisations including Tesco, Mercury Engineering, Paddy Power Betfair plc and, most recently, was the Group Chief Risk Officer of Flutter Entertainment plc. Tanya currently serves as the Chief Risk Officer of Primark. She has a B.Comm in Accounting from University College Cork.

Committee Membership(s): Board Risk Committee, Technology & Data Advisory Committee.

Sandy Kinney Pritchard – Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed: 22/03/2019                                      

Background & Experience: Sandy is a University College Dublin graduate, with a distinguished career across the financial services industry. She is an accountant who previously was a senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP and has held a number of Non-Executive Directorship roles, including at Irish Life and Permanent TSB plc, Skipton Building Society, the FSCS, TSB Bank plc and MBNA Ltd.

Committee Membership(s): Chair of the Board Audit Committee & Member of the Board Risk Committee.

Elaine MacLean – Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed: 04/09/2019                                      

Background & Experience: Elaine is a highly experienced human resources director specialising in financial services and retail. Following her early retail career with roles at Harrods, Windsmoor and later as Retail Operations Director and Human Resources Director with Arcadia, Elaine moved to financial services culminating in her appointment as Group Human Resources Director for Legal and General plc in 2006. Elaine holds an MA in English Literature and Psychology from the University of Glasgow. She is the Designated Non-Executive Director for workforce engagement.

Committee Membership(s): Chair of both the Remuneration Committee and the Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee.

Andy Maguire - Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed: 15 March 2021

Background & Experience: Andy has extensive financial services experience spanning 35 years, including 16 years with the Boston Consulting Group where he rose to become Managing Partner of the London office covering the UK and Ireland, prior to which he held several global roles including Global Head of Retail Banking. From 2014 to 2020, Andy was the Group Chief Operating Officer for HSBC Holdings plc with responsibility for operations, technology, real estate, change and transformation and operational resilience. Andy previously held Chair positions with Napier Technologies Limited and CX Holdings (Cennox Group). He holds a BA and a BAI from Trinity College, Dublin.

Committee Membership(s): Board Risk Committee and Technology and Data Advisory Committee.

Brendan McDonagh, Independent Non-Executive Director and Deputy Chair

Appointed: 27/10/2016                                      

Background & Experience: Brendan started his banking career with HSBC in 1979, working across Asia, Europe, North America, and the Middle East, where he held various roles such as Group Managing Director for HSBC Holdings plc, membership of the HSBC Group Management Board, and CEO of HSBC North America Holdings Inc. Brendan is a former Director of Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA). He was previously the Executive Chair of Bank of N.T. Butterfield & Son Limited. Brendan was appointed Deputy Chair with effect from 24 October 2019.

Committee Membership(s): Chair of the Board Risk Committee, member of the Board Audit Committee, Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee and Remuneration Committee.

Helen Normoyle – Senior Independent Director

Appointed: 17/12/2015                                      

Background & Experience: Helen is a highly experienced marketeer with 30 years’ experience in consumer marketing and market research across a range of sectors and geographies. A graduate of the University of Limerick, she started her career with Infratest+GfK. From there she moved to Motorola, where she held a range of roles including Director of Global Consumer Insights and Product Marketing and Director of Marketing. After working in broadcast and telecoms regulation at Ofcom as the Director of Market Research, she held Marketing Director and Chief Marketing Officer roles at the BBC, DFS, Countrywide and Boots, where she was also the Chair and Director of the Boots Charitable Trust. Helen also serves on the Board of AIB Group (UK) p.l.c. Helen was appointed Senior Independent Director with effect from 1 July 2022.

Committee Membership(s): Chair of the Sustainable Business Advisory Committee, Member of the Nomination and Corporate Governance Committee and the Technology and Data Advisory Committee.

Ann O’Brien – Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed: 25/04/2019

Background & Experience: Ann has over 30 years’ experience in the financial services industry. A graduate of UCD and later Trinity College Dublin, Ann has led omplex management consulting engagements at many of the world's largest global banking and securities organisations. Her most recent role was as a Principal with Deloitte in New York where she was based for 10 years. Ann was appointed to the Board, on the nomination of the Irish Minister for Finance, under the Relationship Framework between the Minister for Finance and AIB Group. Ann serves on the Board of EBS d.a.c.

Committee Membership(s): Chair of the Technology and Data Advisory Committee and member of the Board Audit Committee and Remuneration Committee.

Fergal O'Dwyer – Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed: 22/01/2021

Background & Experience: Fergal is a Chartered Accountant with significant experience in financial management, treasury, strategy, capital deployment and development. Fergal retired in 2020 from DCC plc, the Irish headquartered international sales, marketing and business support services group, which is a FTSE100 constituent company, where he began as an Associate Director, later progressing to Chief Financial Officer in 1992, and Executive Director in 2000. Prior to joining DCC, Fergal worked in PwC and KPMG. Fergal serves on the Board of Goodbody Stockbrokers u.c.

Committee Membership(s): Board Audit Committee. 

Jan Sijbrand - Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed: 14/09/2021

Background & Experience: Jan has had an extensive executive career including roles in Royal Dutch Shell plc, Rabobank Nederland, ABN AMRO Holding N.V. and NIBC Bank N.V. and was a member of the Executive Board and Chair for Supervision at De Nederlandsche Bank N.V. (the central bank of the Netherlands). Jan is currently a member of the Supervisory Board and Chair of the Public Interest Committee of PwC Nederland and served on the Global Board of PwC up until June 2022. Jan has an MSc in Applied Mathematics and a PhD in Mathematics, both from the University of Utrecht.

Committee Membership(s): Board Risk Committee and Sustainable Business Advisory Committee

Raj Singh – Independent Non-Executive Director

Appointed: 25/04/2019

Background & Experience: Raj has 36 years’ business, risk and governance experience gained in large and complex global listed financial services organisations including Citibank, Allianz, Swiss Re, Standard Life Aberdeen and EFG International with the last 20 years at the executive committee level as Group Chief Risk Officer. He has served as a Non-Executive Director of a national credit bureau and two listed financial institutions as well as many of the banking, insurance, reinsurance and asset management subsidiaries of those firms. Raj was appointed by the Board, on the nomination of the Irish Minister for Finance, under the Relationship Framework between the Minister for Finance and AIB Group.

Committee Membership(s): Board Risk Committee and Sustainable Business Advisory Committee.

Colin Hunt – Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director

Appointed to the Board: 08/03/2019

Background & Experience: In March 2019, Colin was appointed Chief Executive Officer of AIB Group. He joined AIB in August 2016 as Managing Director of Wholesale, Institutional & Corporate Banking. Prior to joining AIB, he was Managing Director at Macquarie Capital in Ireland. Previously, he was a Policy Adviser at the Departments of Transport and Finance, Research Director at Goodbody Stockbrokers, Head of Trading Research at Bank of Ireland Group Treasury and a country risk analyst at NatWest. He has a PhD in Economics from Trinity College, Dublin, BComm and MEconSc degrees from University College Cork, and is a Chartered Bank Director and Fellow of the Institute of Bankers.

Committee Membership(s): Sustainable Business Advisory Committee.

Donal Galvin – Chief Financial Officer & Executive Director

Appointed to the Board: 28/05/2021

Background & Experience: Donal joined AIB as Group Treasurer in September 2013 and was appointed to the role of Chief Financial Officer in March 2019 and to the Board in May 2021. Donal has gained significant experience working in domestic and international financial markets over the last 25 years. Prior to joining AIB, Donal held a number of senior executive roles including Global Head of Asian Fixed Income & Equities at Mizuho Securities in Hong Kong and a number of senior Global Financial Market Roles across Europe and Asia Pacific for Rabobank. He serves as a Non-Executive Director of Goodbody u.c

Key Roles and Responsibilities

- Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

The CEO manages the Group on a day-to-day basis and makes decisions on matters affecting the operation, performance and strategy of the Group’s business.

- Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is the most senior management committee of the Group and is accountable to the CEO. Under the stewardship of the CEO the Executive Committee has responsibility for the day-to-day management of the Group’s operations, excluding those matters which are reserved specifically for the Board. They operate within the financial and risk limits set by the Board.

Led by the CEO, the Executive Committee has primary authority and responsibility for the day-to-day operations of, and the development of strategy for the Group.

- Group Company Secretary and Head of Corporate Governance

The Directors have access to the advice and services of Mr Conor Gouldson, the Company Secretary, and Ms Aeilish McGovern, Head of Corporate Governance, who advise the Board and Board Committees on all governance matters, and Corporate Governance best practise, ensuring that Board procedures are followed and that the Group is in compliance with applicable rules and regulations. Both the appointment and removal of the Company Secretary is a matter for the Board as a whole.

Executive Committee Biographies

Colin Hunt – Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director

Background & Experience: In March 2019, Colin was appointed Chief Executive Officer of AIB Group. He joined AIB in August 2016 as Managing Director, Wholesale, Institutional & Corporate Banking. Prior to joining AIB, he was Managing Director at Macquarie Capital in Ireland. Previously, he was a Policy Adviser at the Departments of Transport and Finance, Research Director at Goodbody Stockbrokers, Head of Trading Research at Bank of Ireland Group Treasury and a country risk analyst at NatWest. He has a PhD in Economics from Trinity College, Dublin and BComm and MEconSc degrees from University College Cork.

Donal Galvin – Chief Financial Officer & Executive Director

Background & Experience: Donal joined AIB as Group Treasurer in September 2013 and was appointed to the role of Chief Financial Officer in March 2019 and to the Board of AIB in May 2021. Donal has gained significant experience working in domestic and international financial markets over the last 25 years. Prior to joining AIB, Donal held a number of senior executive roles including Managing Director in Mizuho Securities Asia, Managing Director in Dutch Rabobank and Treasurer of Rabobank International. He serves as a Non-Executive Director of Goodbody.

Cathy Bryce – Managing Director of Capital Markets

Background & Experience: Cathy started her career in investment banking with Morgan Stanley and subsequently ABN AMRO. She joined AIB in 1996 holding a range of leadership roles in debt Capital Markets, most recently leading the international Leveraged Finance business.  In 2018 she joined the National Treasury Management Agency where she was part of the executive management team as Director, NewERA and National Development Finance Agency.  In 2019 she returned to AIB as Managing Director of Capital Markets. She is a business graduate of Trinity College Dublin and holds an MBA from INSEAD.

Geraldine Casey – Managing Director of Retail Banking

Background & Experience: Geraldine joined AIB as Chief People Officer in January 2020 and was appointed MD Retail Banking in October 2023. She has significant experience in leading large teams through culture, process and organisational change, and has driven the bank’s inclusion, future of work and culture agendas. Prior to joining AIB, she held a number of senior roles at Tesco Ireland, as a member of the Executive working across operations, IT, communications and people management positions. Geraldine also serves as a Non-Executive Director Board of AIB Group (UK) p.l.c.

Helen Dooley – Group General Counsel

Background & Experience: Helen joined AIB as Group General Counsel in 2012. She had previously worked in private practice in the City of London, Hong Kong and Dublin, before taking up an in house role as Head of Legal in EBS Building Society in 2005, which became part of the AIB Group in 2011. Over the last 20 years, in addition to her legal role, Helen has also held the Company Secretary position and managed the regulatory compliance and HR functions. Helen is currently responsible for the Legal and Corporate Governance function.

Barry Field - Corporate Affairs Director

Barry was appointed Corporate Affairs Director in February 2024 to lead the bank’s engagement with internal and external stakeholders, a key role given the bank’s changing ownership structure and growing customer base. Barry, who joined AIB’s graduate programme in 2008, has over 15 years’ experience at the Group spanning financial, regulatory, management accounting and treasury. As Head of AIB’s Customer Treasury Services in New York, he delivered AIB’s customer treasury offering across the US. He returned to Ireland in 2021 as Chief of Staff in the Office of the CEO working directly with the CEO and Executive Committee to ensure the smooth delivery of the Group’s overall strategy and the execution of the day-to-day banking agenda. Barry holds a BA in Business Studies from Griffith College.

Michael Frawley – Chief Risk Officer

Background & Experience: Michael joined AIB as Chief Risk Officer in July 2022. A senior risk professional with a 25 year banking career spanning retail, commercial, wholesale, asset management, trade finance, strategy implementation and risk management experience, he also has extensive international experience from his previous roles at HSBC in the UK, Asia and the Americas. His most recent role prior to AIB was as Chief Risk Officer of Permanent TSB. Michael holds an MBA from Columbia Business School, New York and a B.Comm from University College, Cork.

Graham Fagan - Chief Technology Officer

Background & Experience: Graham has held a number of senior management roles in AIB over the last seven years, most recently as Director of Technology Transformation. He is an experienced technology leader, having worked across a range of senior roles in banking and multinational organisations over the last 25 years. He has extensive experience leading large-scale, skilled teams across all aspects of technology management, including application development, technology infrastructure, cyber security and digital transformation. During his time in AIB he has been instrumental in leading the Group’s technology response to Covid, modernising our data centres and transforming technology operations.

Hilary Gormley-Managing Director of AIB Group (UK) p.l.c.

Background & Experience: Hilary has over 30 years’ experience in AIB, enjoying a wide and varied career across retail, commercial and corporate banking, holding a number of senior roles and leading teams across different geographies. She has successfully completed highly strategic priorities for the Group, from leading strategic change programmes to completing large portfolio transactions. Hilary holds a Bachelor’s degree in Financial Services, has completed the Harvard General Management Programme, and is a member of the Institute of Bankers.

David McCormack – Chief People Officer

Background &Experience: David has over 20 years’ experience in human resources, as Deputy Chief People Officer at AIB and previously held the role of Head of HR in AIB UK for a number of years. He has been responsible for overseeing the design and implementation of many significant strategic programmes aligning employees to the strategic and cultural ambition of the Group. David holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Studies, specialising in HR and has completed the IESE Advanced Management Programme. 

Andrew McFarlane - Chief Operating Officer 

Background & Experience: Andrew joined AIB in July 2022 and has over 25 years’ experience working primarily in the financial services sector, in banks and management consulting firms. His international career has spanned Canada, Australia, England and Ireland and he has held posts such as Managing Director, Accenture Financial Services, Canada and more recently Executive Director of Modernisation & Corporate Strategy, and Chief External Relations Officer at Payments Canada. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Business (Banking & Finance) and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment.

Paul Travers - Managing Director Climate Capital

Background and Experience: Paul joined AIB as the Head of Energy, Climate Action and Infrastructure six years ago and was appointed to AIB's Executive Committee as Managing Director of Climate Capital in February 2024. His primary role is to drive the Group's green lending activities with a focus on renewable energy companies and projects, and critical infrastructure with a strong ESG element across Ireland, the UK, Europe and North America. Climate Capital will play a key role in underpinning the banks various green bond offerings and delivering AIB’s €30bn climate action lending fund. Prior to AIB, Paul was the Head of Macquarie Capital Ireland, which is an infrastructure and renewables specialist investor and one of the world’s largest infrastructure asset managers. Paul was also a Director for numerous investments. He is a qualified accountant.

Mary Whitelaw - Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer

Background & Experience: Mary joined AIB in 2007 and her experience has spanned the retail, corporate and treasury businesses. She has held a number of senior leadership roles across the Group including Group Chief of Staff, Head of Strategy & Business Performance for Corporate and Institutional Banking and Head of Corporate Treasury Sales. Prior to joining AIB, Mary trained as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Tax Advisor with PwC. She is a graduate of University College Dublin. Mary is also a Non-Executive Director of Goodbody Stockbrokers u.c.

Orlaith Ryan - Chief Customer Officer

Background & Experience: Orlaith joined AIB in October 2024 as Chief Customer Officer, a role created to drive improved customer experience by better understanding customer’s behaviour and attitudes. Orlaith joined from Sky Ireland where she spent 8 years in senior executive positions, most recently as Chief Commercial Officer and prior to that held the positions of Customer Director and Head of Customer Value Management. Before Sky, Orlaith ran the customer practice at FTI Consulting for over 6 years, working across media, telecoms, insurance, and retail financial services, including Bank of Ireland, Rabo Bank and Liberty Insurance. Orlaith also held a number of customer focused roles with brands with industry-leading reputations including Vodafone and Aviva.

Directors' Statement on Risk Management and Internal Controls

The Board of Directors is responsible for the Group’s system of internal control, which is designed to manage the risk of failure to achieve business objectives, and can provide only reasonable and not absolute assurance against material misstatement or loss. The Group has implemented a framework and policy architecture covering business and financial planning, corporate governance and risk management. The system of internal controls is designed to ensure that there is thorough and regular evaluation of the Group’s risks in order to react accordingly, rather than to eliminate risk. This is done through a process of identification, measurement, monitoring and reporting.

This process includes an assessment of the effectiveness of internal controls, which accords with the Central Bank of Ireland’s Corporate Governance Requirements for Credit Institutions 2015 and the UK Corporate Governance Code.

Further information on the risk management framework of the Group can be found in the Annual Financial Report.

The six designated stakeholder groups in AIB are customers, employees, investors, society, suppliers, and the Group’s regulators. In order for the Group to meet its responsibilities to its stakeholders and to take stakeholder view into consideration in decision making, the Board strives to ensure that effective engagement is maintained with these groups.

The Group engages with stakeholders through various means such as face-to-face meetings including regular and structured engagement and also out of course meetings on specific topics, research, focus groups and surveys, media engagement, direct partnerships and collaboration, sponsorship and community initiatives, participation in expert forums and events, and through the Group’s in-house experts liaising directly with associated business, public and charitable groups.

The Group’s Investors Relations team manages an extensive programme of engagement which includes the Chair, CEO and CFO and major shareholders and other institutional investors. The results of such engagement are communicated to the other Directors to ensure that the views of major shareholders and the investment community are understood by the Board as a whole.

The Group has a number of procedures in place to allow its shareholders and other stakeholders to stay informed about matters affecting their interests. In addition to the Annual Financial Report , which is only sent to those shareholders who request it, the following communication tools are used by the Group:

Website

Since 2000, the Annual Financial Report, the Half-Yearly Financial Report, and the Annual Report on Form 20-F are available on the Group’s website. In accordance with the Transparency (Directive 2004/109/EC) (Amendment)(No.2) Regulations 2015, all Annual and Half-Yearly Financial Reports must be available to the public for at least ten years. From 2008 to 2013, the Annual Financial Report and the Annual Report on Form 20-F were combined.

The Group’s presentation to fund managers and analysts of annual and half-yearly financial results are also available here.

Annual General Meeting (AGM)

The AGM is an opportunity for shareholders to hear directly from the Board on the Group’s performance and developments of interest for the year to date and, importantly, to ask questions.

All shareholders of the Company are invited to attend the AGM. Separate resolutions are proposed on each issue and voting is conducted by way of poll. The votes for, against and withheld on each resolution, including proxies lodged, are subsequently published on the Group’s website. It is usual for all Directors to attend the AGM and to be available to meet shareholders before and after the meeting. The Chairs of the Board Committees are available to answer questions about the Committee’s activities. A help desk facility is available to shareholders attending the AGM.

Full details, including all relevant documents, on this year’s and previous years’ AGMs are available in the Annual General Meeting section of this website here.