Team size: 120

Key team members: Alison Bradshaw, head of credit legal services; Andrew Smith, head of strategy risk and delivery; Gill Higginbotham, head of corporate and commercial; Michelle Emerson, head of UK legal; Miriam Nagle, head of dispute resolution, products and retail legal; Peter Hogan, head of operational effectiveness; Philippa Howley, head of treasury legal services

What are the most significant cases and transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

We’re a progressive, multi-disciplinary legal team that advises across corporate, commercial, real estate, employment, data privacy, digitalisation, banking, and financial matters. We also counsel across litigation and dispute resolution, business and corporate lending, financial products and lending, and a variety of transactions.

Legal played a central role for AIB in some of the most significant, recent corporate transactions in the Irish financial services sector including the acquisition and ongoing completion of Ulster Bank Commercial Loan Book and Ulster Bank Tracker Mortgage Loan Book; the acquisition and integration of Goodbody Stockbrokers; and a joint venture with Great West Lifeco to set up a new business selling life, protection, savings, investment and pension products to the Irish market.

We also advised on several high-profile recent transactions that support our sustainability ambitions including the issuance of Ireland’s first Social Bond; the issuance of two green bonds; and a Complex Corporate Power Purchase Agreement to source up to 80% our electricity needs from renewable energy (the first of its kind in the Irish market).

What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

Supporting AIB’s very ambitious strategy comprising the four corporate transactions mentioned above, which all either commenced or were completed in 2021 and 2022.

Has the increasing consciousness of climate change and sustainability affected your company and the team’s priorities, and if so how?

AIB leads and is highly visible on sustainability and climate action, setting ambitious targets for 2030 for both our operations (carbon footprint to be net zero) and our products (70% green and transition lending). Legal’s priorities include furthering AIB’s sustainability and climate action ambitions, advising AIB on matters and transactions that support those ambitions. Recent illustrative examples of our priorities in action include establishing our Sustainability Legal Team to act as a centre of excellence for legal support on all sustainability matters; embarking on an education programme that brings together legal and industry experts to train and educate our lawyers on key sustainability issues; and advising AIB on the issuance of social and green bonds and a corporate power purchase agreement to source up to 80% of our electricity needs.

AIB also leads on inclusion and diversity matters as the first bank and the largest employer in Ireland to be awarded the ‘Investors in Diversity’ Gold accreditation by the Irish Centre for Diversity. Legal backs AIB’s leading position by working closely with the business on and being advocates for inclusion and diversity matters that involve our customers and our people.