Borrowers on AIB's board

As always with the remuneration figures for AIB's executive directors, it is the lion's share of the cake siphoned off by the US-based director that grabs the limelight.

Of course, this has only become apparent since AIB, embarrassed by stories that it was overcompensating its executives, chose to break with Irish corporate tradition and report separately the rewards offered in the US, where the benchmark is higher. It still hasn't accepted the logic of its argument and reported separately on the way it pays each of its top people.

Hidden down the media reports of the figures was a possibly even more intriguing fact: of the five executive and 10 non-executive directors who served during the year, 11 had loans outstanding at the bank.

Not unusual, you may think. After all, who is not burdened with mortgages and other commitments these days? The business might as well stay close to home if one is a bank director.

However, these 11 borrowers have loans totalling £10.8 million (€13.7 million) - that's more than £980,000 each.

Would that the bank's ordinary customers found it so understanding when they look for support. For its part, all the bank could say in the report was that the loans had fallen from £12.1 million the previous year . . .