Former Court of Appeal Judge John Hedigan has been appointed to chair the new Irish Banking Culture Board (IBCB).

The board has been set up in an attempt to rebuild trust in the banking sector, and Judge Hedigan will take up his role in January 2019.

It is being set up by lenders in the wake of the tracker-mortgage scandal in order to rebuild the industry’s reputation. Its stated aim is to foster “a customer-focused culture within the sector in order to rebuild trust and confidence”.

Judge Hedigan (pictured) was a judge of the High Court from 2007 to 2016 and recently retired from the Court of Appeal. From 1998 to 2007, he was a judge of the European Court of Human Rights.

Challenging

Judge Hedigan said that the role would be a challenging but worthy endeavour. The selection board commented that his professional experience and strong interest in improving banking culture for the good of Irish society would ensure that the IBCB gets off to a good start.