RBC reshuffles leadership, Miami de novo clears regulatory hurdle

July 12, 2024 1:54 PM

In this week's banking news roundup: Royal Bank of Canada reorganizes its executive leadership ranks; pending startup BankMiami gets approval from Florida's Office of Financial Regulation; Rize Credit Union's Julio Jimenez-Wenz joins Nevada Commission on Minority Affairs; and more.

Ben Nelms/Bloomberg

RBC reshuffles its executive ranks

Royal Bank of Canada is shuffling its executive leadership ranks, giving new roles to five top executives following the bank's acquisition of HSBC Canada.

Doug Guzman, who has been serving as group head of wealth management and insurance, will become the company's deputy chair.

Jennifer Publicover, who has been serving as CEO of RBC Insurance, will take over as group head of insurance. And Neil McLaughlin, currently group head of personal and commercial banking, will become group head of wealth management.

McLaughlin's former responsibilities will be split up, as the personal and commercial banking unit gets divided into two standalone segments.

Erica Nielsen, who's currently executive vice president of personal financing products, will become group head of personal banking, while Sean Amato-Gauci, executive vice president of business financial services, has been named group head of commercial banking.

All of the new appointments will become effective on Sept. 1, the Toronto-based bank said Thursday in a press release.

RBC said the revamped lineup of executives will "accelerate its next phase of growth and further strengthen the organization's focus on clients" following its acquisition of HSBC Canada. That deal closed in late March.

In a research note, John Aiken, an analyst at Jefferies, expressed surprise that RBC's announcement did not resolve the future of its chief financial officer job, which is being filled on an interim basis by Katherine Gibson.

RBC, which fired CFO Nadine Ahn on April 5 for what the bank described as "an undisclosed close personal relationship with another employee," has said that it is conducting a search for its next chief financial officer. — Kevin Wack

Rize Credit Union’s Julio Jimenez-Wenz joins Nevada Commission on Minority Affairs

Julio Jimenez-Wenz, a community development executive for the $1.1 billion-asset Rize Credit Union in Irwindale, California, has joined the Nevada Commission on Minority Affairs to help the organization better meet the needs of underserved communities across the state. In his role for Rize CU, Jimenez-Wenz provides bilingual financial empowerment workshops and one-on-one consultation to members and works with local nonprofits. "Julio fully embodies Rize CU's mission and vision to empower our members to achieve lasting financial security, and we look forward to seeing him apply those values on the Commission," Jennifer Oliver, chief executive officer of the credit union, said in a press release on Thursday. — Frank Gargano

Proposed Miami de novo bank clears key regulatory hurdle

Organizers of a pending startup bank in Miami received approval from Florida's Office of Financial Regulation, keeping the proposed de novo on track to open later this year. BankMiami's organizers, who plan to raise $32.5 million of initial capital, still need the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to sign off.

Mary Usategui, who would serve as BankMiami's president and CEO, announced the state regulatory approval in a statement. Usategui was chief financial officer of Professional Bank in Miami until it was acquired by Seacoast Banking Corp. of Florida in 2023. She was Seacoast's chief strategy officer, but she left last year. BankMiami would be the first de novo in South Florida's largest market since 2008. — Jim Dobbs

BofA taps UBS’ top insurance investment banker George Matsuzaka

Bank of America has hired UBS Group's global head of insurance investment banking George Matsuzaka, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

New York-based Matsuzaka is set to join the Charlotte-based lender in October as co-head of global insurance investment banking, said one of the people, who asked not to be identified as the appointment isn't yet public.

Representatives for Bank of America and UBS declined to comment.

Matsuzaka joined UBS last year through the Swiss lender's merger with Credit Suisse, where he spent around 12 years, Finra records show. During his tenure, UBS advised Aon Plc on its roughly $13.4 billion acquisition of NFP. — Gillian Tan, Bloomberg News

Wells taps Huerta from Guggenheim for industrials

Wells Fargo has hired Jon Huerta from Guggenheim Partners to head industrials investment banking, according to people familiar with the matter.

Huerta, based in New York, is joining the firm's corporate and investment bank as a managing director, reporting to Scott Warrender, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the details aren't public. Warrender is head of investment banking within the banking division.

Huerta joined Guggenheim's investment banking division in 2017 and was most recently senior managing director in the aerospace, defense and government services group. Prior to that, he worked at Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of America and Bear Stearns.

A spokesperson for Wells Fargo confirmed the hire and declined to comment further. A spokesperson from Guggenheim didn't respond to requests for comment. — Valida Pau and David Carnevali, Bloomberg News