Newly appointed group chief internal auditor with Bank of Ireland Group, Michelle McGreal FCCA brings to this key role the wealth of experience and the credentials you’d expect. But her CV is more than just a relentless focus on governance and controls, revealing an unusual breadth of experience.
The Co Mayo member’s varied banking career includes key stages in internal audit and pivotal roles in cultural transformation (including diversity and inclusion) and human resources. She also spent time in retail banking where she cut her teeth in leading large customer-facing teams.
‘When I started out in my banking career, back then with AIB, I worked in lots of different areas before moving into audit, so I landed there with a commercial approach built in and it helped me understand how organisations worked before I took on a group-focused role,’ she explains.
‘Increased regulation is a fact of life’
Honing that sense of commerciality has been key to her career. ‘Our colleagues in the broader banking organisation need a trusted adviser in audit. To provide that, I believe you need to understand the business and the risks. I challenge my team all the time to understand what’s the actual risk when matters arise. If you can answer the “so what?” questions effectively and hit on the most important things, you can get to outcomes that bring the organisation to a better place.’
Line of defence
The role of internal audit as the ‘third line of defence’ in good governance has been bolstered by a decade and a half of intensifying legislation and regulatory oversight. Initially a consequence of the financial crisis, it’s a process showing no signs of easing as new uncertainties emerge.
January 2025 saw the issuing of updated Global Internal Audit Standards, while the European Central Bank has made clear that assessing banks’ progress ‘in enhancing their internal audit function through peer benchmarking, sharing good practices and ongoing industry dialogue’ remains a priority.
CV
2025
Group chief internal auditor, Bank of Ireland Group
2024
Head of internal audit, Bank of Ireland UK
2020
Head of audit and deputy chief auditor, Ulster Bank
2014
Regional director for retail banking at AIB, then head of HR for retail and commercial banking, ending up as cultural transformation lead and head of D&I
‘Increased regulation is a fact of life,’ McGreal says. ‘What we have seen, particularly over the last 12 months, is the regulator looking for internal audit to provide independent assurance directly to them.’
‘There’s a very high level of expectation now for what internal audit can deliver’
It is an environment where engagement is key. ‘We meet with the regulator regularly. It’s a cohesive relationship and dialogue is really important,’ McGreal says. A keener focus on the consumer across financial services regulations means ‘the bar continues to rise. There’s a very high level of expectation now for what internal audit can deliver. Meeting that expectation comes down to the credibility, the quality and capability of your team.’
Diversity mindset
The seeds of McGreal’s own varied career experience were sown a decade ago when, comfortably established in her first senior role in audit, she was persuaded by ‘a very strong mentor to think about other avenues within the organisation’. An emerging focus on customer digitalisation and diversity and inclusion provided opportunities, and McGreal took a fresh approach to performance and people while a regional director in retail banking. She saw directly how focusing the right people on the right outcomes, which you measure and support, is key to success when leading a large commercial team. This role paved her way to her appointment as head of HR in retail and commercial banking and, subsequently, cultural transformation lead for the entire bank.
‘Your best decision-making is made when you have people with different views around you’
The three experiences ‘really brought home how important culture is in an organisation’. she recalls. ‘It is a key ingredient in the success of an organisation.’ Her championing of diversity during this period is something she is particularly proud of. ‘My lived experience is that your best decision-making is made when you have people with different perspectives and different views around you.’
It’s a track record that puts McGreal in a strong position, given ‘talent attraction and retention are definitely on the agenda’ in her latest role.
‘The next generation coming into work wants very different things to what my generation wanted. It’s more about the balance in life, the purpose of the organisation and the purpose of the work,’ she says.
Getting involved
McGreal’s enthusiasm for the ACCA qualification is testified by her role as executive sponsor of Bank of Ireland’s ACCA network. She is particularly welcoming of the opportunity the network provides ‘to bring ACCA members together with people who are currently studying for the qualification’.
Outside of work, family is central. With two teenagers, she and her husband ‘will often be found at weekends on the side of a hurling pitch or a rugby pitch. My daughter is also a competitive swimmer, so early mornings and late evenings are filled with swimming training.’ Sport, she adds, ‘lets children experience the joys of winning but, just as importantly, times when things don’t work out’.
‘I’ve had a huge amount of support from others throughout my professional life’
Her current independent non-executive director role with the Courts Service and a former leader position in the Irish Girl Guides reflect a desire to give back to society. She’s also a committed mentor. ‘I’ve had a huge amount of support throughout my professional life from others who have been instrumental in getting me to think outside the box and take on new and stretching challenges,’ she says. ‘As a result of all I received, I am very focused on giving back in different ways.’
As to what advice she might give a younger generation, she reflects that it is to be ‘that person who gets involved in extracurricular projects, initiatives and stretching yourself within your role. Always ensure your learning is key, as by doing so, you are upping your game and opening yourself to new opportunities.’
