Carver Bancorp once turned to Citigroup during a time of need for financial assistance. Now Citigroup has recruited Carver's former CEO to join its board.
Deborah Wright, chairman and former CEO of the $702 million-asset Carver, will join Citigroup's board on Jan. 1, according to a Friday news release. Wright will retire as Carver's chairman on the same day, the company said in a Thursday regulatory filing.
Wright's appointment to Citigroup's board extends the ties between two landmark New York financial institutions. In 2011, during the height of the financial crisis and while Carver was struggling, Citigroup was one of several financial institutions that provided financial assistance to the nation's second-largest bank serving the black community. Citi
"Deborah led Carver Bank through the economic crisis that severely impacted community banks and it went on to earn a reputation as one of the most successful African-American led banking institutions in the country," Citi Chairman Michael O'Neill said in a statement issued Friday.
Carver, which was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Harlem, has had more financial struggles of late. The company in May announced that it
Wright, who was 58 as of Carver's August proxy statement, was CEO of Carver Bancorp and Carver Federal Savings Bank from 1999 to 2014. She had been chairman of the holding company and the bank since 2005. Carver named Robert Tarter, a current director, to replace her as chairman. Tarter retired in 2009 from State Street Corp., where he was head of its global relationship management group. Tarter also previously worked for Bankers Trust.
Wright already serves on the boards of Time Warner and Voya Financial. She was a New York City housing official under Mayors Rudy Giuliani and David Dinkins.
The addition of Wright will expand
