'Crying shame' if senior AIB executives keep jobs, says Central Bank director

Senior executives at the AIB are to blame for the massive losses recorded last year, the director of the Central Bank said today.

The bank announced this morning that it has suffered a pre-tax loss of more than €12bn last year - the highest in its 40-year history.

As a result, AIB is cutting more than 2,000 jobs between now and the end of 2012, with most of the cuts coming from frontline staff.

Central Bank director Mike Soden said that some senior executives should lose their jobs also.

"The people to be blamed are those who are the senior executives and the executive directors of the banks – the major decision-makers," he said.

"We haven’t seen all the heads roll of that whole group, and I think in due course we have to see it, and that is along with the 2,000 jobs being lost.

"If it isn’t, it’s a crying shame."