Eamonn Crowley has been appointed chief executive of Permanent TSB (PTSB) with immediate effect, the Irish bank said on Monday.

Crowley makes the move from chief financial officer, having joined the bank in 2017.

Outgoing CEO Jeremy Masding, who leaves after more than eight years in charge, announced his departure in October last year. The mortgage lender is the smallest of three domestically-owned banks that survived Ireland's financial crash a decade ago.

Chairman Robert Elliott said that Crowley's "breadth of experience and in-depth knowledge of the bank" will help him to lead Permanent TSB through the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.

Crowley will continue to perform his CFO duties until a successor is appointed. The bank has already begun the recruitment process, it said.

(Reporting by Graham Fahy; Editing by David Goodman)