Can you believe it? The Board of Directors of People’s United Bank say sayonara to Philip Sherringham whose arrogance was a slap in the face to past chief executives such as Sam Hawley, Nick Goodspeed and David Carson who cared about the state’s largest city where the bank is based. (Full disclosure: I’m Carson’s biographer.) Sherringham was all about Sherringham. See ya. News release from the bank:
People’s United Financial Names John Barnes Interim President And CEO, Succeeding Philip R. Sherringham
BRIDGEPORT, CT – People’s United Financial Inc., (NASDAQ: PBCT), a diversified financial services company, today announced that John P. (Jack) Barnes, the Company’s Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, has been named interim President and Chief Executive Officer. He succeeds Philip R. Sherringham, who has resigned by mutual agreement with the Board of Directors from the Company and the Board.
The Board is conducting a search for a permanent CEO and will evaluate both internal and external candidates. To assist in the search, the Board has retained Russell Reynolds, a leading executive search firm with extensive experience in the financial services sector.
The Company has also created an Office of the Chairman and CEO which includes Chairman of the Board George P. Carter; Jack Barnes; Paul Burner, Chief Financial Officer; and Robert E. Trautmann, General Counsel.
George Carter said, “Over the past 2 ½ years Philip Sherringham has managed People’s United through a challenging environment and the Board appreciates his contributions in getting us to this point. Today, the Company is in a very strong strategic and financial position with an enviable footprint, fortress balance sheet, solid asset quality, and many growth opportunities. However, the Board believes that new leadership is necessary to take the Company to the next level. We will continue to pursue our strategy of deploying the bank’s excess capital through open bank acquisitions as well as opportunistic FDIC-assisted transactions. We also remain committed to delivering increased value to our shareholders over the long term.”
Mr. Carter continued, “We are fortunate to have a talented management team and are pleased that Jack Barnes, with his extensive banking experience and deep knowledge of our Company, has agreed to step in as interim CEO. The Board is confident the Company won’t miss a beat.”
Jack Barnes said, “People’s United, the largest bank headquartered in New England, is an outstanding franchise with leading shares in a number of New England markets, exceptional asset quality, a solid and growing commercial loan portfolio, and award-winning customer service. As interim CEO, I look forward to working closely with our Board, management team, and dedicated employees as we build on our strong platform to drive People’s United’s continuing success.”
Mr. Barnes has served as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer for People’s United Financial following the acquisition of Chittenden Corporation in early 2008. In this position, he has managed Information Technology, Operations, Real Estate Services and Business Services. Mr. Barnes joined Chittenden Bank in 1983 after five years with the FDIC in Boston. He became Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Policy Officer in 1988. In 1990, he was named to head the Credit Policy and Administration division. In 2002, he was appointed Executive Vice President in charge of the newly formed Chittenden Services Group, which included IT, Operations and other centralized services for the corporation.
