Regions takes new steps to refresh executive leadership team

• Key insight: Regions Financial is moving Kate Danella, one of American Banker's Most Powerful Women in Banking, into a new role, after four years as its head of consumer banking.
  
• What's at stake: The leadership shuffle is taking place as Regions speeds up the timeline for renovating its branch network amid increasing competition across the Southeast.
  
• Forward look: Danella starts as chief administrative officer on Sept. 1, though her predecessor isn't retiring until early 2027.

Regions Financial , the Alabama-based regional bank, is reconfiguring its executive leadership team, shifting the head of consumer banking into a new role as another senior executive prepares to retire early next year.

Kate Danella, who has led Regions' consumer banking business since 2022, will become the chief administrative officer on Sept. 1, the Birmingham, Alabama-based bank said Tuesday. Danella, who is 47, will succeed David Keenan, who plans to retire on Jan. 4, 2027.

In her new role, Danella — who was named American Banker's No. 9th Most Powerful Woman in Banking in 2025 — will oversee areas such as strategic planning, digital banking, community and market engagement and core platform modernization and transformation, the bank said. She will also be in charge of corporate marketing, communications and customer advocacy.

"This succession of leadership reflects Regions' broader leadership development strategy, which has been guided and supported for years by Keenan as part of his focus on teamwork, workplace engagement and effective business operations," the bank said in a press release.

The $161 billion-asset bank implemented an executive-level succession plan earlier this year when its former controller, Anil Chadha, took over for David Turner as chief financial officer. Chadha had worked closely over the years with Turner, who retired at the end of March.

The latest changes are "a natural progression," and one that's also playing out at other banks, as executives begin to think about retirement, said Kevin Heal, an analyst at Argus Research.

"This is a situation very common in the regional banking world as longtime leaders reach retirement age," Heal told American Banker.

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Danella will keep reporting to Regions CEO John Turner, who called her "a natural fit" for the new job, given her banking experience and her commitment to customers and innovation.

"Her leadership is guided by a spirit of continuous improvement, always fostering strong alignment among business groups and making investments that position Regions Bank to expand its reach and elevate its service," John Turner, 64, said in a press release.

Keenan, 59, will move into an advisory leadership role starting Sept. 1. He was promoted to chief administrative officer in 2020, after spending a decade as the bank's human resources head.

In the release, Keenan said "the timing is right" for his departure, adding that "the bank has excellent talent ready to step up to their next level of leadership."

Keenan, a former captain in the U.S. Army, was the head of human resources at AmSouth Bank when it was acquired by Regions in 2006.

With Danella assuming a new role, Regions named John Jordan as its next head of consumer banking. Jordan joined Regions as head of retail banking in 2024, following more than 20 years at Bank of America.

Jordan has been working on accelerating branch-banking growth across Regions' 15-state footprint, the bank said. It announced in March that it would speed up its timeline for updating the branch network, as part of an effort to capture more market share in the Southeast, where several large and regional banks are expanding organically or through mergers and acquisitions.

Regions' executive leadership team currently has 10 members, including Keenan. Regions does not have a mandatory retirement age for executives, a company spokesperson told American Banker.

Regions also announced Tuesday that Angela Santone, who is the bank's chief people officer, will begin reporting directly to CEO John Turner. Santone, who had been reporting to Keenan, joined the bank in 2025 after stints at Turner Broadcasting System and AT&T.