PacWest and others enact exec succession plans

PacWest Bancorp — The California-based banking group has announced changes to its executive leadership team.

Paul Taylor, president of PacWest Bancorp and its subsidiary Pacific Western Bank, has been named CEO of both entities with effect from January 1, 2023. Current CEO Matthew Wagner is to become executive chairman of the boards of directors for the company and the bank for a one-year term beginning on the same date.

On top of this, John Eggemeyer III, PacWest Bancorp’s chairman, will become lead director of the board from the start of next year. In addition, Kevin Thompson has become executive vice president and chief financial officer as of today (November 28). He succeeds Bart Olson, who will become executive vice president of finance.

Heartland Bank and Trust — Illinois-headquartered HBT Financial and its subsidiary Heartland Bank and Trust has announced the retirement of chief lending officer Patrick Busch as of December 31, 2022.

He will transition to the newly created position of vice chairman, a role in which the company said Busch will continue to be involved in business development as a member of both the holding company’s and bank’s boards of directors.

Lance Carter, president and chief operating officer of HBT Financial and COO of Heartland Bank, will take on the additional title of president of Heartland Bank, effective January 1, 2023. On the same date, Lawrence Horvath, regional senior lending manager of Heartland Bank, will become executive vice president and chief lending officer of both the company and Heartland Bank.

TowneBank — COO Brad Schwartz is to retire at the end of this year. The Virginia-based bank said he will serve as a senior advisor through 2025 “to ensure a smooth transition of his roles and responsibilities”.

Schwartz joined Towne in 2016 as COO following the merger with Monarch Bank, where he was CEO since 2009.

The board has named William Foster III to succeed Schwartz as company president. Foster is also to take over as CEO at the end of this year, succeeding Morgan Davis.

BOK Financial — Oklahoma’s BOK Financial has announced that chief financial officer Steven Nell is to retire at the end of March 2023 after 30 years with the company.

Chief risk officer Marty Grunst will succeed Nell as BOK’s next CFO. Mindy Mahaney — currently COO of the company’s wealth management division — will become chief risk officer.

KeyCorp — Donald Kimble, CFO and chief administrative officer at KeyCorp, is to retire at the start of May next year. Chief strategy officer Clark Khayat will succeed Kimble as CFO.

Khayat joined the firm in 2012, first to lead corporate strategy and later as group head of commercial payments.

National Capital Bank of Washington — Richard Anderson Jr is to retire as CEO of the bank at the end of this year. He will continue as president and CEO of the bank’s holding company National Capital Bancorp.

Bank president James Olevson has been named as Anderson’s successor as the bank’s CEO, starting from January 1, 2023. Olevson was appointed president of the bank in April 2022, and was previously chief lending officer at MainStreet Bank.

Bankwell — The Connecticut-based bank has named Courtney Sacchetti as CFO, effective January 1, 2023. She has worked for Bankwell for the past six years as director of financial planning and analysis.

Sacchetti previously worked for GE Capital in various finance and regulatory positions over the course of 18 years.

BCB Bancorp — New Jersey-based BCB Bancorp — holding company for BCB Community Bank — has appointed Ryan Blake to its board of directors.

Blake is the bank’s senior vice president and chief operating officer, a role he has held since 2021. He has worked for BCB for the past 14 years.

In a statement, the bank said Blake was the “the youngest senior C-suite banker in New Jersey and the first out LGBT+ executive to serve on BCB’s board of directors”.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — The banking regulator has appointed Johnny Stanley as deputy comptroller for the northeast and east regions with effect from December 4. He has been in the position on an acting basis since June.

In his new role, Stanley will oversee more than 200 community banks and federal savings associations across 19 states, with $273 billion in assets between them. He joined the OCC in 2008 and has previously worked in the OCC’s San Francisco field office.