Central Bank deputy governor Donnery to leave for ECB role

Central Bank deputy governor for financial regulation Sharon Donnery is to leave later this year for a role at the European Central Bank.

Ms Donnery, who has been with the regulator here since 1996, is leaving to take up a role as an ECB representative to the so-called Supervisory Board of ECB Banking Supervision, the Central Bank of Ireland said in an emailed statement. She will remain in her current position until late 2024. The process to name her replacement will now commence, a Central Bank spokeswoman said.

The supervisory board plans and carries out ECB banking supervision. Ms Donnery will be one of four ECB representatives on the board, along with delegates from the 21 other regulators within the euro area.

“I am excited to be joining an institution of such calibre and standing and look forward to starting my new role at the end of the year,” Ms Donnery said. “Until then I will focus on delivering and completing a number of my priorities in my current role.”

Central Bank governor Gabriel Makhlouf welcomed her appointment, describing the move as a “fantastic opportunity”.

“Given her international reputation, including her current work as Ireland’s member of the ECB’s supervisory board – not to mention the important role she has played in improving the resilience of the Irish and European banking system in the aftermath of the financial crisis – an opportunity of this nature for Sharon is no surprise to me,” he said.

Ms Donnery’s move will bring to a close her 28-year career with the Central Bank here, which she joined originally as an economist. She was named deputy governor in 2016 and acting governor during the summer of 2019 after Philip Lane quit to take up a role with the ECB. Ms Donnery had been widely tipped to be named permanent governor but ultimately missed out to Mr Makhlouf for the top job.

She has held a number of ECB roles while at the Central Bank in Dublin. She chaired the ECB’s taskforce on non-performing loans in the years after the global financial crisis as well as the ECB’s budget committee. She is currently Ireland’s representative on the ECB’s supervisory board, and is co-chair of the Financial Stability Board’s Open Ended Funds Working Group, among other roles.