Bank of Ireland to Shut Down Three U.S. Offices

The Bank of Ireland plans to close three of its offices in the U.S. by the end of next year, affecting 34 jobs. This follows a decision made last month to wind down its leveraged acquisition finance division in the country.

A representative for the bank confirmed to The Irish Times that the New York and Chicago offices will close later this year, while the Stamford, Connecticut office is set to shut down next year. Most of the affected staff will face redundancy.

The spokesperson noted, “We have a wide range of support and options available to our colleagues and are working closely with them.”

Currently, the bank manages a €1.2 billion U.S. Leveraged Buyout Finance loan book from Dublin, which has seen a significant rise in loan losses recently. It’s expected to be depleted over the next three years.

The spokesperson added: “As a leading corporate and business financier, we remain committed to supporting clients who are looking to expand into the U.S. or set up operations in Ireland.” These teams are based in Ireland itself.

The closure announcement comes 50 years after the Bank of Ireland opened its New York office. It coincides with a meeting between Prime Minister Michael Martin, U.S. President Donald Trump, and Vice President J.D. Vance in Washington, where they commemorated St. Patrick’s Day and highlighted the benefits of transatlantic investment.

Recently, Enterprise Ireland announced that Irish businesses are planning to invest billions in the U.S. economy.

For instance, Smurfit Westlock, the world’s largest publicly traded packaging firm with 32,000 employees in the U.S., has pledged to invest $1 billion (€870 million) annually over the next five years. Similarly, insulation giant Kingspan aims to spend $1 billion over five years on local manufacturing and upgrades at existing factories in the U.S.

Nutrition group Glanvia is also investing around $100 million this year to increase its production capacity in the U.S., primarily in New Mexico and Ohio. Additionally, companies like Kerry Group, fuel retailer Applegreen, and building materials giant CRH are making substantial investment plans in the U.S.

The Bank of Ireland initially entered the U.S. market in 1976, opening an office in Manhattan to serve the Irish diaspora. It has maintained a near-continuous presence there, aside from a break between 1997 and 2000.

The bank acquired First New Hampshire Bank in 1988 and merged with Citizens Financial Group in 1995 after a downturn in the real estate market affected its operations. In 1998, it sold its 23.5% stake in Citizens, which was previously owned by Royal Bank of Scotland (now NatWest Group).

Previously, the bank’s investment management arm, Bank of Ireland Asset Management (BIAM), was based in the U.S. until it was sold to State Street in 2011.

The U.S. Leveraged Finance business began in 2002, focusing on arranging and distributing debt for mid-market acquisitions. However, recent years have seen challenges due to the disposal of non-performing loans.

In its 2024 annual report, Bank of Ireland indicated that defaults by certain companies in its U.S. acquisition finance portfolio contributed to €127 million in loan losses for the year. Defaults in this segment formed part of a €110 million impairment loss noted in the non-real estate small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) and corporate loan portfolios in 2025, according to the latest report.