AIB chairman to step down as chair of UK’s bad bank

AIB chairman Richard Pym is to step down as chairman of the UK's so called 'band bank', UK Asset Resolution Limited (UKAR), in June 2016.

Mr Pym has held the position since the formation of UKAR in 2010, having been group chief executive of Alliance & Leicester plc until July 2007 and joined the board of Bradford & Bingley in 2008. He became AIB chairman in 2014.

UKAR was formed to facilitate the orderly management of the closed mortgage books of both Bradford & Bingley and NRAM and its mission it is to maximise value for the taxpayer. Mr Pym will be replaced by John Tattersall, an existing non-executive director, but will remain on the board for a “short period”.

“It has been a privilege to chair the Boards of UKAR, B&B and NRAM plc and I am delighted to hand over the stewardship to John Tattersall who has considerable experience in financial services and risk management,” Mr Pym said. Mr Pym was paid a salary of £125,000 (€161,000) for his services in the year to March 2016.

In April Brendan McDonagh, a former CEO of HSBC North America and a board member of the National Treasury Management Agency, joined the board of UKAR. Mr McDonagh is to assume the role of chairman of the Audit Committee and will also join the risk committee of UKAR in June. Michael Buckley, former AIB group chief executive, is also a non-executive director of UKAR.

In the year to March 31st 2016, UKAR said on Tuesday that its balance sheet had fallen by £22.8 billion or 35 per cent bringing the total reduction to £72.5 billion, or 63 per cent, since its formation in 2010. Some 42 per cent of the government loans have now been repaid, while UKAR mortgage accounts three or more months in arrears, including possessions, have reduced by 47 per cent since March 2015, or by 84 per cent since 2010.

Earlier this year UKAR signed signed a contract with Computershare, which owns the UK’s largest third-party mortgage administration business, to outsource the servicing of £30 billion of customer loans. On commencement of the outsourcing arrangement, expected in early June 2016, around 1,700 UKAR employees will transfer to Computershare.