MidSouth to add turnaround specialist in senior-level shake-up

MidSouth Bancorp in Lafayette, La., has appointed one of its regional executives to the newly created post of chief banking officer. The $1.9 billion-asset company, which recently disclosed that the Federal Reserve has categorized it as “troubled,” has also moved to appoint a veteran turnaround banker to its board of directors.

MidSouth announced the appointments of Chris Mosteller as CBO and David Kramer as director last week in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The appointment of Mosteller, who joined MidSouth as North Texas regional president in September after working 10 years at Wells Fargo, comes on the heels of Jeff Blum’s resignation as executive vice president and chief lending officer. Rather than name a replacement, MidSouth opted to create the chief banking officer position.

At the same time, MidSouth reached outside the organization to tap Kramer, who served most recently as president and chief operating officer at $2.7 billion-asset Atlantic Capital Bancshares in Atlanta. Before joining Atlantic Capital, Kramer served as president and CEO at Chattanooga, Tenn.-based First Security Group, which Atlantic Capital acquired for about $160 million in cash and stock in November 2015.

First Security, which was Chattanooga’s largest locally based community bank, had been hemorrhaging money for two years when Kramer arrived in November 2011. As CEO, Kramer presided over a $91 million recapitalization as well as the company return to profitability in 2014 before he engineered its sale to Atlantic Capital.

Kramer served as CEO of Ohio Legacy Corp in North Canton from 2006 to 2010. While there, he arranged a $15 million capital raise after Ohio Legacy’s subsidiary bank, Ohio Legacy Bank, ran into trouble as a result of bad construction loans.

MidSouth, which entered into a formal agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in July, must obtain regulatory approval before the appointments of Mosteller and Kramer are finalized. Until then, the company said CEO James R. McLemore will handle the chief banking officer duties. Likewise, MidSouth plans to retain Kramer as a consultant until he is cleared to join the board.

In addition to Blum’s departure, Teri S. Stelly resigned as chief accounting officer and comptroller. Chief Financial Officer Lorraine D. Miller will oversee her duties until a replacement is named.

Blum didn’t stay unemployed long. The $1.5 billion-asset Investar Bank in Baton Rouge, La., announced Monday that it had hired him to run a new commercial and industrial division.

MidSouth, a longtime energy lender, is struggling to work its way through elevated levels of nonperforming assets. At the end of the third quarter, nonaccrual loans totaled $53.9 million, or 4.35% of total loans plus other real estate and repossessed assets. Included in the nonperformer total was $26.3 million in energy credits.

MidSouth’s total energy exposure was $198 million on Sept. 30, or 16% of total assets.