ONE of Ireland’s top PR executives yesterday told the High Court of his outrage and anger that information was leaked to a number of Sunday newspapers that he was in talks with Bank of Ireland (BoI) for the post of group head of corporate communications.

FORMER Bank of Ireland chief executive Michael Soden has been linked with a deal to buy assets belonging to troubled British energy group Regal Petroleum.

The Bank of Ireland has made a special payment of €2.3m to its former Chief Executive Michael Soden.

David Clerkin argues that Bank of Ireland broke its duty of confidentiality.

BANK OF IRELAND has agreed a €3 million golden handshake deal with Michael Soden, the former chief executive who resigned last year after using his work computer to access the website of an escort agency.

BANK of Ireland is expected to announce this week that it is to shed 2,000 jobs as part of cost-cutting measures.

DETAILS of former Bank of Ireland chief executive Michael Soden’s severance package will not be made public until next year, the bank said yesterday.

THE controversy surrounding Bank of Ireland’s funding of a publisher of pornographic magazines was finally put to bed yesterday when the bank confirmed it had transferred its €7 million loan to Remnant Media to another bank.

BANK OF IRELAND'S Irish businesses have performed strongly so far this year and a good performance is expected for the year as a whole, shareholders at the bank's annual general meeting were told yesterday.

AIB was accused of running from public scrutiny last night after it said its report into overcharging foreign exchange customers would be delayed for six weeks.

Laurence Crowley has said that the prospect of a takeover bid for Bank of Ireland has not increased despite the recent resignation of chief executive, Michael Soden.

HOURS after Bank of Ireland said it was not vulnerable to a takeover, Barclays bank's Kerry-born chief executive Matthew Barrett said his bank is open to partnerships or mergers to keep pace with US competitors.

An inquiry has been launched into trading of Bank of Ireland shares at the time of former chief executive Michael Soden's retirement last week.

The ISEQ index shed 20.03 points this morning to 5205.52

THE chief executive of the country’s second largest banking group sensationally quit his position over the weekend after being caught accessing adult websites in breach of company guidelines.

BANK OF IRELAND will move to appoint a successor to Michael Soden as early as this week, but the vacancy left by former Aer Lingus chairman Tom Mulcahy will remain unfilled until later in the summer.

As two banks reel in the wake of scandal, DAVID CLERKIN compares their reactions to the crises.

AIB group chief executive Micheal Buckley is under mounting pressure following the sudden resignations of two major figures in Irish banking over the weekend.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was stating the obvious when, in an RTÉ radio interview yesterday, he said that breaches of the tax laws by AIB executives must be fully investigated.

Scandals involving two of Ireland’s major banks have jeopardised the financial industry’s international credibility, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern warned today.

The Chief Executive of the Bank of Ireland Group, Michael Soden has resigned.

BANK OF IRELAND met market expectations yesterday when it announced pre-tax profits of E1.27 billion last year, an 8% increase.

Bank of Ireland has reported an 8% rise in pre-tax profits and put the increase down to a focus on its key Irish and UK markets and a recovery in the world equity markets.

BANK of Ireland's new focus on selling-off non-core businesses and developing a sustainable lower cost base is not a prelude to relocating work to low-cost countries like India, the bank said last night.

The ISEQ index finished up 89.65 points to close at 5189.35 on Thursday

Bank of Ireland Group said this morning it expected to post its 13th consecutive year of profit growth when it reports full-year results on May 13.

BANK OF IRELAND, the country's second largest bank, made a profit of 24.69 million a week for the first half of 2003.

BANK OF IRELAND could face a day of branch closures and ATM failures after its computer staff served strike notice last night.

Conor Keane, Business Correspondent

THE raising of €507 million by Bank of Ireland is a prelude to an acquisition in Britain or an optimisation of the bank’s capital efficiency, depending on which of the main stockbrokers you listen to.

ABBEY National’s two million shareholders must be furious with company chairman Terry Burns, who fought such an aggressive battle to ward-off the takeover assault by Bank of Ireland’s chief executive Michael Soden.

FRUSTRATED information technology (IT) workers want Bank of Ireland to tell them the 600 Irish-based jobs will not be outsourced to India.

IT has certainly been an annus horribilis so far for AIB and Bank of Ireland and the question for the dominant forces in Irish banking is where now?

National Australia Bank has emerged as the next possible merger partner for Bank of Ireland.

BANK OF IRELAND has retired with a bloody nose from its €16.5 billion battle to take over Britain’s sixth biggest bank, Abbey National.

BANK OF IRELAND'S proposed merger with British bank Abbey National plc is one of the most ambitious in Irish corporate history.

BANK of Ireland will offer Abbey National shareholders a cash pay-out of some €1.6 billion in a bid to sweeten its merger proposal, it was reported yesterday.

EARLIER this year, Bank of Ireland’s top management had every reason to feel a little smug.

Bank of Ireland has approached troubled Abbey National with plans to create a London-listed bank with headquarters in Dublin, it was announced today.