Five months after Western Alliance Bank CEO Kenneth Vecchione received a contract extension, the company shuffled the duties of its executive team in a move it said would promote continuity of leadership.
Vecchione, who has been the chief executive at Phoenix-based Western Alliance since 2018, announced the creation of three new senior roles, as well as the formation of a team that will be responsible for guiding the company's strategic direction.
"I am confident that these changes will allow us to continue creating new growth opportunities and delivering value to our shareholders, while ensuring leadership continuity within our organization," Vecchione said in a press release.
The newly formed executive leadership team will have seven members, in addition to Vecchione. The bank, a unit of Western Alliance Bancorp., said that all but one of those executives received long-term equity awards earlier this year in order "to ensure continuity and stability within the company's senior leadership team."
Back in April, Western Alliance said that its board had extended Vecchione's contract through at least 2024. At the same time, the $66 billion-asset bank announced that former CEO Robert Sarver was stepping down as executive chairman and resigning from his board seat.
Sarver, who owns the NBA's Phoenix Suns, has been enmeshed in scandal since November, when ESPN
After Western Alliance announced Vecchione's contract extension, analysts
Robert Sarver, who is majority owner of the Phoenix Suns basketball team, will retire from his longtime role on the board of directors of Western Alliance Bancorp. in June, the company said. Sarver and the Suns are being investigated by the National Basketball Association regarding allegations of racism and misogyny within the Suns organization.
Western Alliance's latest moves include the promotion of Chief Credit Officer Tim Bruckner to the newly created role of chief banking officer for regional banking. Bruckner's responsibilities will include oversight of Alliance Bank of Arizona, Bridge Bank, Bank of Nevada, First Independent Bank and Torrey Pines Bank, all of which are divisions of Western Alliance Bank.
Meanwhile, Steve Curley is being promoted to another newly created position, chief banking officer for national business lines. Western Alliance credited Curley with having previously spearheaded the growth of its mortgage warehouse and homeowner association business lines.
The bank also said that Randall Thiesen will retire as chief legal officer in the first quarter of 2023, but he will move into the newly created role of head of corporate affairs, where he will oversee corporate communications, marketing, government relations and community relations.
Jessica Jarvi, who recently became the bank's general counsel, will take over the chief legal officer role when Thiesen transitions into his new position, according to the bank.
