The Department of Finance’s deputy head, Ann Nolan, a key figure in the State’s bailout and restructuring of the banking sector during the financial crisis, is set to retire at the end of July.
Ms Nolan, who was a central player in recent weeks in the initial public offering of AIB, had been with the department for 32 years.
She "played an instrumental role in the restructuring of the financial sector and overhaul of the legislation on financial regulation following the crisis," the department said in a statement, adding that she was heavily involved in the establishment of Nama in 2013, the liquidation of Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, formerly Anglo Irish Bank, in 2013 and recovery of taxpayers' investments in bailed-out banks.
Instrumental
Ms Nolan was also instrumental in the formulation of emergency banking laws introduced in December 2010 which allowed the State seize AIB that month and helped banks to impose losses on junior bondholders the following year.
Last week, Ms Nolan presided with Des Carville, head of the department’s banking unit, over the flotation of AIB, in which the State sold a 28.8 per cent stake in the lender, raising €3.4 billion.
Before the deal, the Government had received €6.8 billion of cash from the bank, which cost €20.8 billion to rescue between 2009 and 2011. The AIB cash recovery includes interest on bailout bonds and government guarantee fees.
