Francesca McDonagh (born ) is an Irish-British banker. Since September 2022, she is the Group Chief Operating Officer (COO) of
Credit Suisse
Credit Suisse Group AG is a global investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. Headquartered in Zürich, it maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world and is one of the nine global " ...
. Prior to that, she served as Group Chief Officer (CEO) of
Bank of Ireland
Bank of Ireland Group plc ( ga, Banc na hÉireann) 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 Iris ...
from October 2017 - August 2022, when she succeeded
Richie Boucher
Richie Boucher (aged 50 in 2009) is a former chief executive officer (CEO) of the Bank of Ireland, Ireland's largest bank. He was succeeded by Francesca McDonagh in October 2017, having taken on the role on 25 February 2009 from Brian Goggin, ...
who had served as CEO of the bank from February 2009.
Education
McDonagh grew up in
Croydon in
London and attended Coloma Comprehensive Girls’ School in Croydon. She studied at
Oxford University where she graduated with a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics.
Bank of Ireland CEO
McDonagh joined Bank of Ireland from
HSBC Group, where she held a number of senior management roles. She is the first female CEO of Bank of Ireland.
Bank of Ireland was the country’s only domestic lender to avoid nationalisation during the financial crisis. By 2013, the bank had returned €6 billion for the €4.8 billion State aid injection.
Early challenges in her role include the fallout of the
tracker mortgage issue. McDonagh and the heads of the other five main Irish retail banks were called by Finance Minister
Paschal Donohoe to discuss their respective plans on resolving the tracker mortgage issue that had impacted their customers.
McDonagh has stated her focus is on technological transformation, improvements in internal culture, and enhanced customer service across the Group. She has also promoted Bank of Ireland’s objective to reach 50:50 gender balance in management and leadership appointments by 2021.
On 26 April 2022, Bank of Ireland announced that McDonagh would step down as Group CEO in September.
Personal life
McDonagh, an Irish national, was born in
Wimbledon, London, to an Irish father and Egyptian mother. McDonagh's paternal grandfather comes from the village of
Carraroe
Carraroe (in Irish, and officially, , meaning 'the red quarter') is a village in County Galway, Ireland, in the Irish-speaking region (Gaeltacht) of Connemara. It is known for its traditional fishing boats, the Galway Hookers. Its population i ...
in
County Galway
"Righteousness and Justice"
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, image_map = Island of Ireland location map Galway.svg
, map_caption = Location in Ireland
, area_footnotes =
, area_total_km2 = ...
and her paternal grandmother is from
Laois.
She lives in
Dalkey,
Dublin, with her husband, who is French and owns a patisserie business.
References
Irish bankers
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
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