* Appoints Kevin Murphy CEO after departure of Denis Casey
* Murphy has worked at Irish Life since 1972
* Analyst says sensible appointment, comes from strong unit
(Adds analyst comment)
By Andras Gergely
DUBLIN, June 17 (Reuters) - Irish Life & Permanent has appointed Kevin Murphy, a longstanding employee of the group's relatively strong life assurance business, as group chief executive, the company said on Wednesday. Denis Casey resigned from the helm of Irish Life & Permanent in February after a deposit scandal involving the bancassurer and now nationalised Anglo Irish Bank.
Murphy, 57, an actuary by profession, has worked with the Irish Life unit since 1972 and led the group's fund management arm Irish Life Investment Managers between 1993 and 2005. He was appointed to the group's board in 1999.
"Since February of this year he has managed the day-to-day operation of the group alongside Chairwoman Gillian Bowler pending the conclusion of this selection process," Irish Life & Permanent said in a statement.
Most leading Irish financial institutions have replaced their top ranks after a string of scandals and a wipeout of shareholder value in the sector, leaving Bowler as the only top official from before the financial crisis still in her job.
Bank of Ireland has been criticised for appointing an insider, the former head of its Irish retail unit Richie Boucher, as new group CEO.
But one analyst said Murphy's appointment was more sensible and his background at Irish Life an advantage because that unit is much stronger than banking arm permanent tsb.
"Plainly it's the bank which has dragged the business down," said Davy analyst Scott Rankin. "Chances are they may not be in banking much longer."
Irish Life & Permanent said last month it was creating a new holding company for the group which is seen designed to enable it to spin off permanent tsb from Irish Life. The strength of Irish Life and a lack of exposure to struggling property developers has allowed the group to avoid a state bailout which has given the government indirect 25 percent stakes in Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Bank.
Irish Life & Permanent also does not plan to take part in the "bad bank" scheme that will see up to 90 billion euros worth of risky loans transferred to a new National Asset Management Agency from other banks.
Shares in Irish Life & Permanent closed down 5.5 percent underperforming a 3.4 percent weaker Irish market. (Additional reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Jon Loades-Carter)