Irish Life & Permanent has appointed former UK post Office MD Alan Cook as chairman of the group with immediate effect.

Part-nationalised British lender Lloyds Banking Group slumped into the red last year with losses of £6.3bn (€7bn), it said today.

THE Chairman of the European Parliament’s Inquiry into Equitable Life, Ireland East Fine Gael MEP Mairead McGuinness, expressed concern about the manner in which complaints from Equitable Life policy holders were dealt with by the Financial Ombudsman Service in Britain.

Almost 500 aggrieved house buyers in the North made complaints to the financial ombudsman last year.