Co-op Bank boss Richard Pym to head Allied Irish Banks

The Co-operative Bank has been through some turbulent times

The chairman of the Co-op Bank, Richard Pym, will stand down later this year to lead Allied Irish Banks (AIB).

Mr Pym, a former chief of Alliance and Leicester, had already announced he would be leaving the troubled lender, which is now seeking his replacement.

He will be appointed to the AIB board as a non-executive director and chairman-designate from 13 October.

Current AIB chairman David Hodgkinson will retire from the board of the nationalised Irish bank in December.

"I am delighted to accept the invitation to be the next chairman of AIB and I look forward to contributing to the progress that has already been made in re‐building a strong bank," said My Pym.

"Irish taxpayers have made considerable sacrifices in supporting the banking system and I am very conscious of my responsibilities in that regard."

AIB is 99.8% state-owned after it was forced to take a €20bn (£15.91bn) taxpayer bailout in 2011.

The bank said its losses had more than halved in 2013.

Chief executive of AIB, David Duffy, said Mr Hodgkinson had "led the company through a turbulent and difficult time".