ANGLO IRISH Bank is restructuring its wealth management division and has appointed an internal candidate, Gerard Davis, to run the unit, the bank told staff in an e-mail yesterday.

The bank said it was repositioning and developing the unit to support its portfolio of investment assets, including property funds, following the submission of a revised restructuring plan to the European Commission last Monday.

The division, which has 2,500 clients, is planning to develop the business to support its various investments, the bank said.

Anglo chief executive Mike Aynsley told staff in the e-mail that the bank’s head of corporate development, Tom Hunersen, and Mr Davis were restructuring the division. They were “continuing to develop a strategy for the business to position and structure wealth management in advance of new opportunities that will arise in this rapidly changing market”, he said.

Mr Aynsley, who told staff he was visiting Anglo’s offices in New York and Boston this weekend, also announced the appointment of Australian Penny Bryant as head of internal communications.

Ms Bryant previously worked at HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland in the UK, and at Australian telecoms firm AAPT and insurer AMP. She starts at Anglo on July 1st.

Staff were told that Mr Hunersen, Anglo chief financial officer Maarten van Eden and head of legal Lizanne White were planning to visit the bank’s Irish regional offices and meet staff over the coming weeks.

Mr Aynsley said Mr van Eden had delivered a presentation to the Institute of International and European Affairs last month entitled What to do with Anglo Irish Bank – an analysis in the macroeconomic and systemic context. He did not disclose any details about the content of the presentation.