FORMER Bradford & Bingley boss Richard Pym is to stand down later this year as chairman of the troubled Co-op Bank to lead Allied Irish Banks .

He will be appointed to the AIB board as a non-executive director and chairman-designate from October 13abd succeed retiring chairman David Hodgkinson in December. AIB is 99.8 per cent state-owned after it was forced to take a £15.9billion taxpayer bailout in 2011. The bank said its losses had more than halved in 2013.

Mr Pym, a former chief of Alliance and Leicester, had already announced he would be leaving the troubled Co-op , which is now seeking his replacement.

He, along with former Morrisons finance director Richard Pennycook, now acting chief executive, were brought in last year to to beef up the senior management of the Co-o banking and retail giant which has been rocked by crises, including the drugs scandal of previous chairman, former Bradford Methodist minister and councillor Paul Flowers.

Mr Pym, the former Alliance & Leicester boss, was chief executive and later chairman of Bradford & Bingley before its part-nationalisation in 2008. He remains chairman of UK Asset Resolution, the Crosflatts-based state-owned vehicle which holds almost £70 billion of loans made by lenders Bradford & Bingley and Northern Rock .

He said: "I am delighted to accept the invitation to be the next chairman of AIB and I look forward to contributing to the progress that has already been made in re?building a strong bank. "

Meanwhile, the Co-operative Bank is to revitalise a policy which sits at the heart of its values and ethics as its battle to rebuild customer trust continues.

The bank said it has had a record 73,000 responses to a survey conducted in June around its ethical policy, which gives its customers a say on issues which matter to them. The policy was first launched in 1992 and it covers human rights, international development, ecological impact, animal welfare and social enterprise.

The latest survey marks the fifth time that the Co-op has reviewed its policy. It has also gauged opinion around three new areas - responsible banking, transparency and treating customers fairly.

The Co-op plans to work with the Institute for Public Policy Research to analyse the results of the survey and develop a new ethical policy., including keeping and extending some existing policies.

Niall Booker, Co-operative Bank chief executive, said : "I'm delighted that we've had such a strong response from our customers and colleagues.It shows just how much importance people place on our values and ethics as we continue to transform the bank and rebuild trust in the banking sector."