with central bank of ireland . governor and company of the bank of ireland type public company traded as iseq bir industry finance founded 1783 headquarters dublin republic of ireland key people archie kane governor richie boucher ceo products banking & insurance products revenue 2 974 million 2014 operating income 1 301 million 2014 net income 921 million 2014 number of employees 11 086 2014 website www.bankofireland.com the bank of ireland irish banc na h ireann is a commercial bank operation in ireland and one of the traditional big four irish banks . historically the premier banking organisation in ireland the bank occupies a unique position in irish banking history . at the core of the modern day group is the old bank of ireland the ancient institution established by royal charter in 1783 . 1 contents 1 history 1.1 chronology of history 1.2 role as government banker 1.3 headquarters 2 banking services 2.1 republic of ireland 2.2 international operations 3 banknotes 4 controversies 4.1 michael soden 4.2 dirt controversy 4.3 stolen laptops 4.4 record bank robbery 4.5 wrong information on recapitalisation and bonuses 4.6 relationship with outsourcing companies 4.7 closing accounts associated with palestine 5 2008 share price collapse 6 references 7 sources 8 external links history edit bank of ireland is the oldest bank in continuous operation apart from 4 closures due to bank strikes 1950 1966 1970 1976 in ireland . chronology of history edit the history is as follows 1781 the bank of ireland act is passed by the parliament of ireland . 2 1783 25 june 1783 the bank of ireland opened for business at mary s abbey off capel st. dublin in a private house previously owned by one charles blakeney . 3 1808 6 june 1808 bank of ireland moved to 2 college green . 3 1864 bank of ireland first pays interest on deposits . 3 1926 the bank of ireland took control of the national land bank a friendly society . 3 1948 the bank of ireland 1783 1946 by f.g. hall was published jointly by hodges figgis dublin and blackwell s oxford . 4 1958 the bank took over the hibernian bank limited . 3 1965 the national bank ltd a bank founded by daniel o connell in 1835 had branches in ireland and britain . the irish branches were acquired by bank of ireland and rebranded temporarily as national bank of ireland before being fully incorporated into bank of ireland . the british branches were acquired by williams & glyn s bank . 3 1983 bank of ireland bi centenary . a commemorative stamp was issued . the bank commissioned the publication of an irish florilegium . 5 1995 bank of ireland merge first new hampshire bank with royal bank of scotland s citizens financial group 6 1996 bank of ireland buys the bristol and west building society for 882m which keeps its own brand . 7 1999 merger talks with alliance & leicester were held and then called off . 8 2000 it is announced that bank of ireland is to acquire chase de vere . 9 2002 bank of ireland acquires iridian the us investment manager which doubles the size of its asset management business . 10 2005 bank of ireland completes the sale of the bristol and west branch and direct savings contact centre to britannia building society . 11 2008 moody s investors service changed its outlook on bank of ireland from stable to negative . moody s pinpointed concerns over weakening asset quality and the impact of a more challenging economic environment on profitability at bank of ireland . a share price collapse followed . 12 2009 the irish government announces a 7 billion rescue package for the bank and allied irish banks plc in february . 13 biggest bank robbery in the history of the state took place at bank of ireland at college green . consultants oliver wyman validated bank of ireland s bad debt levels at 6 billion over three years to march 2011 a bad debt level which was exceeded by almost 1 billion within a matter of months . 14 15 2010 the european commission orders the disposal of bank of ireland asset management new ireland assurance ics building society its us foreign exchange business and the stakes held in the irish credit bureau and in an american asset manager followed the receipt of irish government state aid . 16 2011 the securities services division is sold to northern trust corporation . 17 18 2013 bank of ireland more than doubles interest rates on mortgages tracking the bank of england rates which have remained stable for four years citing the need to hold more reserves and the increased cost of funding mortgages . described by ray boulger of broker john charcol as having shot the reputation of its mortgages to smithereens nevertheless the bank continues to offer highly competitive mortgages through the post office . 19 2014 regulation of the bank will transfer to the european central bank 20 2014 enters marketing alliance with evo payments international and re enters the card acquiring market . boi payment acceptance launches in december 2014 . 21 role as government banker edit the bank of ireland is not and was never the irish central bank . however as well as being a commercial bank a deposit taker and a credit institution it performed many central bank functions much like the earlier established bank of scotland and bank of england . the bank of ireland operated the exchequer account and during the nineteenth century acted as something of a banker of last resort . even the titles of the chairman of the board of directors the governor and the title of the board itself the court of directors suggest a central bank status . from the foundation of the irish free state in 1922 until 31 december 1971 the bank of ireland was the banker of the irish government . 3 headquarters edit facade of the bank on westmoreland street dublin the headquarters of the bank until the 1970s was the impressive bank of ireland building on college green dublin . this building was originally designed by edward lovett pearce in 1729 to host the irish parliament and it was the world s first purpose built two chamber parliament building . 22 the bank had planned to commission a building designed by sir john soane to be constructed on the site bounded by westmoreland street fleet street college street and d olier street now occupied by the westin hotel . however the project was cancelled following the act of union 1800 when the newly defunct parliament building was bought by bank of ireland in 1803 . 23 the old bank of ireland building continues today as a working branch . today visitors can still view the impressive irish house of lords chamber within the old headquarters building . the modern irish parliament is now housed in leinster house in dublin . in 2011 the irish government set out proposals to acquire the building as a venue for the state to use as a cultural venue . 24 in the 1970s the bank moved its headquarters to a modern building on lower baggot street dublin 2 . as frank mcdonald notes in his book destruction of dublin when these headquarters were built it caused the world price of copper to rise such was the usage in the building . 25 new headquarters at 40 mespil road dublin 4 in 2010 the bank moved to a new smaller headquarters on mespil road . 26 banking services edit republic of ireland edit former headquarters on lower baggot street until 2010 the group provides a broad range of financial services in ireland to the personal commercial industrial and agricultural sectors . these include checking and deposit services overdrafts term loans mortgages international asset financing leasing instalment credit debt financing foreign exchange facilities interest and exchange rate hedging instruments executor and trustee services . 27 international operations edit the bank is headquartered in dublin and has operations throughout the republic of ireland . it also operates in northern ireland where it prints its own banknotes in pounds sterling see section on banknotes below . in great britain the bank expanded largely through the takeover of the bristol and west building society in 1996 . bank of ireland also provides financial services for the british post office throughout the uk . operations in the rest of the world are primarily undertaken by bank of ireland corporate banking who provide services in france germany australia and the united states . banknotes edit a 5 sterling note issued by bank of ireland in northern ireland main article banknotes of the bank of ireland northern ireland see also banknotes of northern ireland and banknotes of the pound sterling although the bank of ireland is not a central bank it does have sterling note issuing rights in the united kingdom . while the bank has its headquarters in dublin it also has operations in northern ireland where it retains the legal right dating from before the partition of ireland to print its own banknotes . these are pound sterling notes and equal in value to bank of england notes and should not be confused with banknotes of the former irish pound . the obverse side of bank of ireland banknotes features the bank of ireland logo below which is a line of heraldic shields each representing one of the six counties of northern ireland . below this is a depiction of a seated hibernia figure surrounded by the latin motto of the bank bona fides reipublicae stabilitas good faith is the cornerstone of the state . 28 the current series of 5 10 and 20 notes issued in april 2008 all feature an illustration of the old bushmills distillery on the reverse side . prior to 2008 all bank of ireland notes featured an image of the queen s university of belfast on the reverse side . 29 30 31 the principal difference between the denominations is their colour and size 5 pound note blue 10 pound note pink 20 pound note green 50 pound note blue green the bank of ireland does not issue banknotes in the republic of ireland . section 60 of the currency act 1927 removed the right of irish banks to issue banknotes however consolidated banknotes of a common design issued by all shareholder banks under the act were issued between 1929 and 1953 . these notes were not legal tender . 32 controversies edit michael soden edit michael soden abruptly quit as group chief executive on 29 may 2004 when it was discovered that adult material that contravened company policy was found on his bank pc . 33 soden issued a personal statement explaining that the high standards of integrity and behaviour in an environment of accountability transparency and openness which he espoused would cause embarrassment to the bank . 34 dirt controversy edit an ir 30.5 million tax arrears liability was settled by bank of ireland in july 2000 . the bank told the oireachtas public accounts committee inquiry that its liability was in the region of 1.5 million . the settlement figure was dictated by the revenue commissioners following an audit by the commissioners . 35 it was in bank of ireland that some of the most celebrated of the celebrated cases of non compliance and bogus non resident accounts have to date been discovered and disclosed . thurles boyle roscrea 1990 milltown malbay 1991 dundalk 1989 90 killester 1992 tullamore 1993 mullingar 1996 castlecomer clonmel ballybricken ballinasloe skibbereen 1988 dungarvan and disclosed to the oireachtas public accounts sub committee ballaghaderreen 1998 and ballygar 1999 . the public accounts sub committee inquiry concluded that the most senior executives in the bank of ireland did seek to set an ethical tone for the bank and unsuccessfully sought revenue commissioners assistance to promote an industry wide code