KeyCorp has elevated two of its senior executives, Christopher M. Gorman, and Don Kimble, to vice chairmen.
Gorman was most recently in charge of leading the Cleveland company’s integration of First Niagara and before that, he was president of Key Corporate Bank, overseeing business lines such as capital markets and equipment finance. He also held leadership roles at McDonald Investments, a registered broker-dealer that Key acquired in 1998. Apart from being promoted to vice chairman, Gorman, 56, has also been named president of banking, a role in which he will oversee all business lines at the $134.5 billion-asset company.
Kimble, who is also 56, joined KeyCorp in 2013 as chief financial officer and is a member of the executive leadership team and executive council. He had previously been the chief financial officer of Huntington Bancshares in Columbus, Ohio.
In a news release, Chairman and CEO Beth Mooney said that Gorman and Kimble have been “instrumental” in integrating First Niagara into KeyBank and building Key into one of the country’s largest banks. “As Vice Chairmen, they will partner and be uniquely positioned to ensure our continued forward momentum,” Mooney said.
In a note to investors, Sandler O’Neill said that these promotions are a signal that Key has moved on to its next phase of growth after its July 2016 acquisition of First Niagara. The moves could also position Gorman and Kimble as potential successors to Mooney, who is 62.
“While we do not believe that … Beth Mooney has any plans to retire in the near-term, yesterday's announcements should pave the way for grooming transparently her possible successors and prepping the market for such changes,” Sandler principal Scott Siefers wrote in the note.
