Bank Chief Quits after Porn Disclosure

The bank’s chief executive, Michael Soden, last week quit his job after porn was found on his company computer.     

Soden hit the headlines last year in Ireland when staff took industrial action in protest of the department’s shift to Hewlett Packard; they were unhappy about the prospect of becoming HP employees.   Staff informed the bank that they had discovered pornography on Soden’s machine on Wednesday last week, during routine maintenance.

Soden resigned his post on Saturday, after the internal investigation into the discovery was leaked to the local press.   Not that it has been alleged that any of the material was illegal, but it was forbidden under bank policy. “I now accept that accessing this material was inappropriate and would cause embarrassment to Bank of Ireland,” Soden said in a statement.

The controversial outsourcing move was Soden’s second high-profile decision after his appointment as chief executive.   Ironically, his first was to update the acceptable use policy that prohibits staff from accessing porn using company equipment.