Financial institutions saw a bit of an executive shuffle as the new year kicked off. TD launched a new bank business, and the former head of commercial bank was appointed to lead the new business; former Nasdaq CIO Anna Ewing was appointed to a fintech board, and there are new C-level executives at Synchrony and LendingTree.

Here are the most notable January hires:

TD Bank names new head of commercial bank division

TD Bank revealed last week it has combined its commercial, corporate and specialty banking teams to create the new TD Commercial Bank. Several of the bank’s corporate and specialty banking teams are joining the new bank, including: asset-based lending, equipment finance, institutional health care and higher education, commercial real estate and global trade finance. TD Bank is the U.S. subsidiary of the $1.3 trillion TD based in Toronto, Canada.

Chris Giamo, head of commercial bank, will lead the new business. Giamo joined TD in 1998 as head of its New Jersey middle market lending group. He has held several positions in the commercial and retail banking side, including serving as regional president for TD’s New York Metro region. He was named head of commercial bank in 2017.

Marla Willner, who previously oversaw the bank’s corporate and specialty bank, now will lead commercial credit management for TD Bank, as well as other strategic initiatives.

Meanwhile, in an unrelated move, Karen Buck, former EVP of commercial, retail, and payment operations at TD Bank in New Jersey, was named executive vice president and head of operations at the $31 billion asset Flagstar Bank, which is headquartered in Troy, Mich. Buck, who has more than 30 years of experience in financial services, will oversee the bank’s customer engagement center, retail and commercial operations, banking operations, and business risk and internal controls.

Synchrony unveils succession plan, new CEO

Synchrony Financial announced a succession plan that will see Chief Executive Margaret Keane transition to executive chairwoman of the board at the private label credit provider, making her the board’s first executive chair. Brian Doubles will step into the president and CEO role, and join the board as a director.

Keane, with Doubles’ help, led Synchrony’s formation as a new company with its IPO and separation from GE in 2014. Doubles has been president since May 2019, and has helped steer the Stamford, Conn.-based company through the COVID-19 economic crisis. He previously served as Synchrony’s EVP and CFO from 2014 to 2019, and as CFO of GE’s North American retail finance business from 2009 to 2014.

Separately, Curtis Howse stepped into his new role Jan. 1 as EVP and CEO of Payment Solutions at Synchrony, replacing Neeraj Mehta, the former payments chief. Mehta will remain with Synchrony through March 1 to ensure a smooth transition, according to a company statement, before pursuing “other opportunities.” Prior to his CEO appointment, Howse had led Synchrony’s direct-to-consumer efforts since 2018, and before that was the general manager of the Diversified Client Group.

Synchrony, with assets of $9.6 billion, is one of the largest private label credit providers in the nation.

LendingTree names new CTO

LendingTree, the online lending platform, appointed Scott Totman as its new chief technology officer. Totman previously served as chief product and technology officer for OnDeck, a small business lender on the LendingTree network that was acquired by Enova International in 2020. He also worked as head of product and engineering at cloud security startup Divvycloud. Before that, Totman’s team built Capitol One’s web presence and mobile applications.

City National Bank snags Wells Fargo SVP

Jennifer Martin is the new commercial transformation lead at City National Bank, according to a January LinkedIn post. Martin joins the $75 billion asset bank, the Los Angeles-based subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Canada, after nearly 15 years at Wells Fargo, where she most recently worked as SVP and head of solutions strategy and capabilities, wholesale banking. She held several senior positions during her years with Well Fargo, including head of wholesale banking; co-lead of Bank Secrecy Act and Anti-Money Laundering Remediation; and manager of business strategy, process, and user experience in wholesale business tools.

Heritage Southeast Bank names chief compliance officer

Pam Perdue joined Heritage Southeast Bank as SVP and chief compliance officer as of Jan. 25. In the new role, Perdue will be responsible for the Jonesboro, Ga.-based bank’s compliance organization and activities, as well as ensuring the company adheres to regulatory guidelines. Part of that will include creating a “strong, modern compliance infrastructure that appropriately leverages current technology,” said Paul Hoerig, EVP and chief credit and risk officer for the approximately $1.5 billion bank. Previously, Perdue worked as the chief regulatory officer at Continuity, which offers regulatory technology solutions.

Former Nasdaq CIO joins fintech board

Former Nasdaq CIO Anna Ewing was appointed to the board of directors for RIMES, a financial services technology company specializing in managed data services. Ewing will sit as a nonexecutive director. Ewing led the technology roadmap and integration plan that shifted Nasdaq from a single U.S. cash equities market to a fully diversified, global exchange company. She also spent three years as managing director at CIBC World Markets and seven years at Merrill Lynch as CTO and vice president in the corporate and institutional client technology group. She also sits on the boards of Financeware and Orchid Insurance.

New chief credit officer appointed at New York digital commercial bank

The digital commercial Piermont Bank has appointed Marianne McGoldrick as chief credit officer. McGoldrick will oversee the $130 million New York-based bank’s credit administration, including credit approval process, loan policies and procedure while managing the lending portfolio’s overall quality. Her team will also safeguard Piermont’s culture of risk management, according to a prepared statement.

McGoldrick brings more than 30 years of industry experience to the CCO post. She previously spent seven years with Sterling National Bank as deputy chief credit officer, market credit director and team lead.

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