In addition to shuffling senior executives, financial institutions have also been busy replacing their chairmen. Even the chairman in charge of insurance for bank deposits is moving on.
Premiums on directors and officers liability coverage for financial institutions might fall next year, Business Insurance reported. But until then, the high level of litigation during the past two years will keep rates high.
| In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Sheila Bair said she will not seek to renew her term when it expires in 2011. She was appointed to her post at the FDIC by the Bush administration in 2006.
Bair will continue to serve on the FDIC’s board until July 2013. Mark Hammond, who was recently ousted as president and chief executive officer of Flagstar Bancorp Inc., has also given up his role as vice chairman and his membership on the board of directors, a news release last week said. Hammond is also out as a non-officer executive advisor. The new CEO of Regions Financial Corp. will be Grayson Hall, the company said yesterday. Hall will replace Dowd Ritter — a 40-year employee — when he retires on March 31, 2010. Hall already holds the titles of president and chief operating officer at the Birmingham, Ala.-based firm — where he started in 1980. Regions reports $140 billion in assets.
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FDIC photo of Sheila Bair
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UnionBanCal photo of John Woods
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Regions also announced the election of Earnest W. Deavenport Jr. as chairman.
UnionBanCal Corp. and subsidiary Union Bank, N.A., have officially designated John F. Woods as chief financial officer as of Dec. 1, a statement said. Woods replaces David I. Matson, who is retiring. The San Francisco-based bank reports $78.2 billion in assets. The chief credit officer of IBERIABANK Corp., Anthony Restel, has been replaced by H. Gregg Strader, a news release last week indicated. Restel will continue to serve as chief financial officer for the company, which has a $1.1 billion market capitalization. Strader started with the LaFayette, La.-based institution in July and previously worked at Wachovia Corp. for 23 years. His most recent Wachovia job was chief risk officer for its real estate financial services group. Sterling Savings Bank’s new CEO is Greg Seibly, who also joined the board of directors, a Dec. 9 statement from parent Sterling Financial Corp. said. In addition, Ezra Eckhardt was appointed president and COO of Spokane, Wash.-based Sterling. Seibly and Eckhardt have been temporarily serving in the roles pending Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco approval, which has been granted for the $11.9 billion bank.
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Amegy photo of Steve Stephens
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Paul B. Murphy Jr. resigned as CEO of Amegy Bank National Association, a Dec. 4 statement indicated. Murphy, who co-founded the Houston-based institution, will lead a new start-up bank. He will also remain as a member of Amegy’s board of directors. Taking Murphy’s place will be Scott J. McLean, who has been Amegy’s president since 2003. Steve D. Stephens will take over McLean’s role as president of Amegy, which reports $11 billion in assets. Stephens helped found Amegy Bank in 1990.
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Amegy photo of Scott J. McLean
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| James S. Kimball was named regional senior vice president of Wells Fargo & Co.’s North Coast regional commercial banking office in California. Kimball joined the San Francisco-based bank as part of the acquisition of Wachovia Corp. He previously spent 24 years at Bank of America Corp.
BB&T named Bill Kilburg president of its South Atlanta region, a Dec. 3 statement said. He replaces Derek Lane, who was promoted to head of the sales finance department. Lane started with the Birmingham, Ala.-based institution in 1987. FirstFed Financial Corp. announced last week that Babette Heimbuch has resigned as chairman of the Los Angeles-based company and subsidiary First Federal Bank of California, FSB. In addition, she will relinquish her CEO role on Dec. 31. Heimbuch said in the statement that she had hoped to retire earlier but felt obligated to stay on until the bank and economy stabilized. First Federal, which has $6.2 billion in assets, disclosed earlier this year that cease-and-desist orders were issued by the Office of Thrift Supervision against the bank and the holding company following huge losses on its negative-amortization adjustable-rate mortgage holdings. The bank halted new mortgage originations shortly after the order.
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Wells photo of James Kimball
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FirstFed director Brian Argrett will take over as chairman. Argrett is president and CEO of private-equity firm Fulcrum Capital Group LLC. FirstFed President James Giraldin will assume the CEO role. Giraldin originally joined the company in 1992.
The new vice president of commercial lending at Southwest Securities, FSB’s, North Arlington, Texas, office is Scott A. Anderson, an announcement this week indicated. He previously worked at Bank One and NationsBank of Texas.
