Bank of Ireland has announced the appointment of Mr Peter Crowley as chief executive of IBI Corporate Finance with effect from August 30th.

Mr Richard Keatinge is to remain as managing director of IBI during a transitional period during which he will oversee the proposed flotation of ACC and TSB banks, on behalf of the Minister for Finance, "at which point he has decided to leave the group to pursue a variety of business and other interests", Bank of Ireland said. The completion of the flotation is not expected until the first half of next year.

Mr Keatinge said his departure will be gradual and he has no special plans. He added he does not intend to retire from business life and will "see what emerges".

A former financial editor of The Irish Times, Mr Keatinge (51) has been managing director of IBI for the past six years, a position he held previously. He vacated that position in 1985 when he took charge of Bank of Ireland's British operations, but quit in 1990. This was followed by posts with NCB and Hardwick.

Mr Crowley (37) is a son of the late Mr Niall Crowley, who was chairman of AIB. He is a former executive director of IBI, where he worked between 1993 and 1996, when he left to join Sigma Communications Group. He was a member of the team, Bank of Ireland said, "which built Sigma from a turnover of £15 million in 1995 to an estimated turnover of £75 million this year".