Ms Susan Keating was first recruited to Allfirst, then First National Bank of Maryland, in early 1966 by the then chief executive Frank Bramble. He introduced her to bank staff from the balcony of an Ocean City hotel on Maryland's Atlantic Coast where senior executives had gathered in the lobby during a bank retreat. From Conor O'Clery, in New York

"You will all love Susan Keating," he cried.

A native of Los Angeles with a degree in arts and sciences, Ms Keating worked briefly as a high-school English teacher before starting her banking career in 1974. She was the first woman accepted for Milwaukee First Bank System's management training programme. In 1988 she was recruited by MNC bank in Baltimore as head of consumer banking and rose to executive vice-president under Frank Bramble.

MNC failed and was taken over in 1993 by NationsBank and Bramble was recruited as chief executive of Allfirst by then-chairman Jeremiah Casey. She ran NationsBank Maryland operations until forced out in 1995 after rows with her new boss Eugene Taylor, former president of NationsBank Florida, which received widespread coverage in the local press.

Keating was active in civic affairs and in 1994 was named one of the "Magnificent Seven" by Business and Professional Women/USA.

After Bramble took her in at Allfirst, she was promoted rapidly. In 1977 she was made president and chief executive of Dauphine Deposit, the bank Allfirst purchased in Pennsylvania.

When Bramble was promoted to head of AIB's US division and stepped down as president of Allfirst, he named Keating president of Allfirst from January 1999. Up to 20 senior executives left the bank after her promotion including Walter Fatzinger, her rival for the post.

Some retired but several refused to work with her because of her lack of experience, according to a former Allfirst executive. Keating got the nickname inside the bank of "the Velvet Hammer" for her way of getting rid of people. In December 1999 she succeeded Bramble as chief executive. She had a reputation for being very bright but for being a micromanager, focused on public relations.

Keating declared that the AIB-owned bank was entering a growth phase but it underperformed and the Pennsylvania acquisition failed to boost earnings. The subsequent emphasis on cost cutting contributed to underfunding of the treasury department where John Rusnak was hiding huge losses during all the time she was president and chief executive.

In January 2002, Keating was appointed to the nine-member AIB group executive committee chaired by AIB group chief executive Michael Buckley. She was the first woman to get such a top position in Irish banking.

As chief executive, she refused to offer to resign when the Rusnak trading scandal broke on February 6th and got the backing of the Allfirst board.

Since then, AIB's desire that she should leave became an open secret and her resignation was considered a matter of time.