Wells Fargo, Union Bank, Santander: Bankers on the move

February 3, 2019 10:00 PM

Numerous banks announced key leadership hires in the closing weeks of 2018 and in the opening ones of 2019.

Wells Fargo, MUFG Union Bank and Mastercard filled important high-tech posts. Fintechs claimed some top talent, too. Ex-Fannie CEO Timothy Mayopoulos joined a mortgage-tech developer, while the API developer Even Financial hired Nadine Murray, who had worked for JPMorgan Chase's consumer bank.

Meanwhile, Santander and City National announced hires in specialized banking efforts in health care and defense.

Several small banks selected new chief executives, while one New Jersey bank mourned the passing of its longtime leader.

Following is a guide to who is on the move.

Wells Fargo's latest: New leadership for tech ops, Western branches

The San Francisco bank appointed JPMorgan Chase executive Saul Van Beurden in early January to lead its technology and cybersecurity operations. He starts in April.

The new head of technology “will be instrumental in driving the company’s transformation and efforts to become a leader in risk management and innovation,” a Wells news release said.

Van Beurden will report to CEO Tim Sloan. Currently he is the chief information officer for consumer and community banking at JPMorgan Chase. He has been with JPMorgan since 2014.

Wells' chief technology officer, Scott Dillon, and its chief information security officer, Rick Baich, will continue to report to Chief Financial Officer John Shrewsberry. Wells did not provide specifics on what Dillon’s and Baich’s roles will be after Van Beurden joins the bank.

Additionally, Wells named Steve Troutner head of the community bank's U.S. Western region, one of the unit's most senior outside hires since a scandal over bogus accounts erupted more than two years ago.

Troutner will join the bank this month and report to Mary Mack, head of Wells Fargo's community bank and consumer lending division, according to an internal memo reviewed by Bloomberg. Most recently he was chief executive officer of the Emily Program, which treats eating disorders. He has worked at Citigroup, Bank of America and Wachovia, which Wells Fargo acquired in 2008.

Troutner replaces Lisa Stevens, who retired last year after 29 years at the firm.

Disney executive joins Union Bank to head data-insights team

A former vice president of digital marketing and data technology for the Walt Disney Co. is MUFG Union Bank's choice to head its business data and insights unit.

Una Fox will work with the bank’s product, marketing and business teams. She will be based in Woodland Hills, Calif., and report to Pierre Habis, Union's head of consumer banking.

"Una's background in leveraging data to make smart financial and business decisions, particularly for very consumer-facing companies, is not only impressive, but exactly the sort of expertise we hoped to find in a leader for our data and insights team," Habis said in a news release.

Union Bank, based in San Francisco, is part of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, a $2.7 trillion company in Tokyo.

Union has turned to the entertainment industry for creative minds before. In September of last year, it hired a former vice president of direct-to-consumer and innovation program management for Warner Bros. Digital to lead its digital banking department.

At Disney, Fox led the creation of a digital and analytics system to support Walt Disney International's brand and marketing teams. Fox managed business and technology teams at Yahoo before working for Walt Disney. She also consulted for global brands like Microsoft, Cisco, Qwest, Google and AT&T while at KPMG Consulting.

Christopher Navin

Health care professional joins Santander in niche banking post

A health care professional will lead one of Santander Bank's specialized banking groups.

The $74.2 billion-asset subsidiary of Spain’s Banco Santander said that Emily Vaughan Alexanderson will oversee a business unit focused on education, nonprofits, professional services, technology and life sciences firms. She will report to Patricia Packard, the bank's director of government and specialized banking.

Santander said the hire was part of an ongoing investment in its commercial bank. Though based in Boston, Santander added commercial bankers in the Southeast, Midwest and Southwest last year. It also expanded into technology, media and telecommunications banking and foreign corporate banking, while adding a family-office practice.

Before joining Santander, Alexanderson held a number of roles at athenahealth, including chief of staff to its chief marketing officer and senior manager of the strategic planning and operations team. She was also a member of the company's financial planning and analysis team.

Before that, Alexanderson worked for RBS Global Markets, where she handled interest rate derivatives and foreign exchange for the bank’s U.S. commercial clients.

Mastercard bolsters real-time payments leadership

A former McKinsey & Co. associate partner, Liz Oakes, has been named Mastercard's executive vice president of market development for the New Payments Platforms division.

In her role, Oakes will collaborate with regional teams on real-time payments strategies for governments, central banks and other regulators as well as retail and commercial banks across the globe.

Oakes, who earlier in her career worked at Vocalink, now part of Mastercard, will be based in London and report to David Yates, president of the platforms division.

During her tenure at McKinsey, Oakes worked with financial institutions, payments businesses and investors on strategy, design and implementation of payment systems, as well as PSD2 and other regulation, open banking and M&A support.

In 2016, Oakes joined McKinsey from KPMG, providing strategic, operational and functional payments advisory services to clients. She has been involved in the development of enhanced data capabilities for real-time payments and the implementation of the ISO 20022 XML messaging standard.

Fintech picks up JPMorgan exec

Nadine Murray, who had worked for JPMorgan Chase's consumer bank, joined Even Financial in December to guide strategy for the startup. It creates application programming iterfaces that are meant to make its services the digital version of branches and agents.

The company's APIs connect consumer financial product marketplaces like Credit.com with financial products like Goldman Sachs’ Marcus. Even Financial has accelerated hiring to keep up with its rapid growth, said CEO and co-founder Phillip Rosen.

The company recently raised $18.8 million in a Series A round led by GreatPoint Ventures with participation from Goldman Sachs, Canaan Partners, F-Prime Capital, Lerer Hippeau and others. In February, it received $3 million in investment from American Express Ventures, Plug & Play and Arab Angels.

Murray said Even Financial is reshaping how financial institutions land new customers. Its innovative use of a network of relationships and data captivated her, she said.

“We’re able to find greater efficiencies and unlock value for our partners,” she said. “I’m loving it; it’s six weeks in, and every day I’m excited about the opportunity we have here.”

Timothy Mayopoulos, president and chief executive officer of Fannie Mae.

Ex-Fannie CEO Mayopoulos joins startup

Timothy Mayopoulos, a former CEO of Fannie Mae, has become president of the digital mortgage technology vendor Blend.

He is expected to oversee the Silicon Valley startup's long-term planning. He also will join Blend’s board of directors.

"I'm thrilled to join Blend at a critical point in its growth trajectory and look forward to helping the company continue to drive positive change in consumer finance in the years to come," Mayopoulos said in a news release.

Mayopoulos previously had made it known that he planned to pursue opportunities in fintech and affordable housing. In 2016, he joined the board of directors at the marketplace lender LendingClub.

Blend, which develops technology that banks and other mortgage lenders use to collect and evaluate loan applications, has raised $160 million in venture funding, according to Crunchbase, including a $100 million round of investment led by Greylock Partners in August 2017.

The company says it processed more than $230 billion in loan applications last year.

Promotions aplenty at Synovus

Synovus Financial had a busy December.

The Columbus, Ga., lender granted its Chief Financial Officer Kevin Blair the additional title of chief operating officer. It also named a chief credit officer and promoted two other banking executives.

Blair will continue to hold the title of CFO until the $32 billion-asset Synovus finds a successor. As COO, Blair will oversee its community banking, wholesale banking and financial management services business lines, as well as the technology and operations and product and treasury management teams. He joined in August 2016 as its CFO. Previously, he was a corporate treasurer at SunTrust Banks in Atlanta.

The new credit chief, Bob Derrick, joined Synovus in 2003 as assistant regional credit officer and was named regional credit officer in 2010. He was appointed group executive of credit risk in 2013 and chief community credit officer in 2017. From 1986 to 2003, he was with Wachovia Bank, where he held a range of banking positions.

Also promoted were Sam Baxter and John C. Griggs III. Baxter was named senior director of private wealth for South Carolina, the bank said in a press release. He previously was market president for its South Carolina central region. Griggs will succeed Baxter in the central region role.

Defense team goes on offense at City National

In December, bankers from from MUFG Union Bank and Bank of America joined a growing team of specialists serving the aerospace and defense industry at City National Bank in Los Angeles.

The U.S. subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada said in a press release that it named Jon VanDerMeid senior vice president and credit manager and Laura Dodd vice president and relationship manager. The team is based in Southern California, though the $50.3 billion-asset City National ultimately wants to have aerospace and defense bankers on both coasts.

VanDerMeid will be responsible for managing a team of credit officers focused on the aerospace, defense and government services sector. The team will be based in Orange County, Calif., and will serve clients with revenues of $50 million to $5 billion.

VanDerMeid has more than 14 years of experience in commercial and investment banking, with five years focused on aerospace and defense specifically, the bank said. Before joining City National, he was a director and credit manager at MUFG Union Bank, the San Francisco-based unit of the Japanese banking giant Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group. He has also held credit roles at Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase.

Dodd will be based in San Diego. She will manage and advise a group of commercial clients in the sector, City National said. She has been in banking for over seven years, with more than half of that time spent banking the aerospace and defense sector. Previously, she worked at Bank of America as a vice president and relationship manager in the San Diego market.

A new president for First Midwest Bancorp

Mark Sander, First Midwest Bancorp's chief operating officer, was promoted to president in mid-January.

The $15 billion-asset company said in a press release he will continue to serve as chief operating officer and president of First Midwest's bank.

Sander, who joined First Midwest in June 2011, oversees the bank’s commercial, consumer and wealth management business lines. Sander is also a First Midwest director.

Michael Scudder, who had been the company's president, will remain chairman and CEO.

Sander has also led credit administration, operations, information technology, marketing and communications for the company, which recently moved its headquarters from Itasca, Ill., to Chicago. Sander was the director of commercial banking at Associated Banc-Corp before joining First Midwest.

Bob Jones, CEO of Old National Bancorp in Evansville, Ind.

Old National to have first new CEO since 2004

Bob Jones, longtime CEO of Old National Bancorp in Evansville, Ind., will retire May 2, the bank said. Jones will be succeeded by Jim Ryan, its chief financial officer.

Jones (pictured) has been CEO of the $19.5 billion-asset Old National since September 2004.

In addition to naming Ryan the successor to Jones, it said Brendon Falconer, Old National’s treasurer, will become CFO. The company plans to hire a new treasurer.

Jim Sandgren will remain Old National’s president and chief operating officer.

Jones, 61, will continue to serve as Old National’s chairman through January 2020.

executives handing off the baton; CEO succession planning

Close-up Of Two Businessman's Hand Passing A Golden Relay Baton

Andrey Popov/Andrey Popov - stock.adobe.com

Executive transitions at small banks

Leadership at several community banks changed hands in December and January.

Movement Bank in Danville, Va., hired David Rupp, former chief executive of Four Oaks Fincorp, as CEO. Rupp succeeded Tom Smith, a former bank consultant who retired after leading the bank for 18 months. Before joining Four Oaks, Rupp was retail banking and mortgage president at VantageSouth Bank. His background also includes stints as CEO of Greystone Bank, senior executive vice president of Regions Financial and various roles at Bank of America and First Union.

To the north, in Berryville, Va., Eagle Financial Services is looking for a new president and CEO. The $800 million-asset company said that John Milleson plans to retire in mid-2019. The timing is subject to a successful search process and transition to Milleson’s successor.

In San Jose, Calif., Heritage Commerce announced that its president and CEO, Walter Kaczmarek, will retire on Aug. 8. Keith Wilton, the $3.2 billion-asset company's chief operating officer, will succeed Kaczmarek. Wilton is also president of Heritage Commerce's bank. Kaczmarek, who was 66 when the company filed its proxy statement last March, has been CEO since 2005. He will remain on the board after his retirement.

American Bank in Austin, Texas, also gained a new leader. The $1.4 billion-asset bank said that Stephen Raffaele became its CEO on Jan. 1. Raffaele succeeded Richard Scanio, who had been the bank's CEO since 2016. Raffaele, who joined American in 2016 as an executive vice president, will remain the bank's president. Scanio will continue as vice chairman and will be involved with client relations, community relations and business development.

Veteran banker departs Woodforest National Bank

Woodforest National Bank in The Woodlands, Texas, announced James Dreibelbis became its president and CEO in late December. He replaced Cathy Nash as head of the $5.8 billion-asset bank.

Nash, who became Woodforest's CEO in April 2015, was one of American Banker's Community Bankers of the Year in 2012 when she was CEO of Citizens Republic Bancorp. While at Citizens, she led a successful turnaround before selling the bank to FirstMerit.

While at Woodforest, Nash had been responsible for turning the bank, which had largely operated in-store branches and relied heavily on fees, into a commercial lender.

Dreibelbis joined Woodforest in 2007 as CEO of Woodforest Bank FSB. He then became president and chief operating officer of Woodforest National Bank, overseeing technology and operations.

Nash recently updated her LinkedIn profile to note that she had left Woodforest in December. The profile did not list a new position.

A spokeswoman confirmed that Nash has resigned; she declined to comment further. Efforts to reach Nash were not immediately unsuccessful.

Amboy's chairman and CEO dies

George Scharpf, chairman and CEO of Amboy Bancorp. in Old Bridge, N.J., died on Jan. 4.

The $2.4 billion-asset bank said in a news release that Scharpf's death was unexpected. He had just turned 78.

The bank named Joseph DiSepio, its vice chairman, to succeed Scharpf as chairman. Gregory Scharpf, Amboy’s chief operating officer, succeeded his father as president and CEO.

Scharpf began his career at Amboy in 1969 when the bank had $39 million in assets. He had been CEO since 1981.

“He led by example — at the bank, in the community and at home,” Gregory Scharpf said in the release. "Clients appreciated his advice, but valued his old-school banker style even more.”