Lack of female executives could lead to risks

THERE aren’t enough women in top jobs in Irish finance, which could lead to heightened financial risk-taking as women take less risk on average than men, a top Central Bank official has said.

Central Bank director general for financial conduct Derville Rowland told a women in leadership conference that to the end of 2017, men had been appointed to more than nine out of 10 of the most senior and influential roles in the main retail banks,

“Many of these appointees have similar backgrounds, education and experiences. In other words, there is an acute lack of diversity in those senior roles that are central to how banks make their decisions, set their risk appetites and treat their customers,” Ms Rowland told the conference at University College Dublin yesterday.

A report by the Central Bank found 6pc of applications for revenue-generating roles in top finance jobs were for women.

The five banks reviewed in the report were AIB Group, Bank of Ireland Group, Permanent TSB, Ulster Bank Ireland and KBC Bank Ireland.

Bank of Ireland appointed Francesca McDonagh as Group CEO in 2017, the most senior position ever held by a woman in Irish finance.

Following this, Ulster Bank last year named Jane Howard as its CEO.