State-owned Allied Irish Banks has confirmed to WealthBriefing that it has appointed Patrick Farrell as managing director of its private bank. Mr Farrell, who will take up his new position in May, is currently head of private banking at Ulster Bank.

According to a report in the Irish Examiner, AIB wants to develop its wealth management business as part of a strategy to offer a new range of services to its customers. The paper adds that it is believed that a number of third parties had approached AIB about outsourcing its wealth management services, but the bank decided to keep this in-house.