Associated Bank expands commercial team in Chicago; Anchor Bank to sell branches on June 25
Associated Bank expands commercial team in Chicago
Associated Bank is building its commercial banking presence in the Chicago market with the addition of several senior level managers.
“The addition of these industry leaders is in keeping with our plans to grow and expand in the Chicago and Illinois markets,” said executive vice president Mark Sander, who joined Associated Bank in September 2009 and leads commercial banking for the company.
Donna Smith has been named executive vice president and commercial banking director for the south region. Smith brings more than 30 years of commercial banking experience to Associated Bank. Most recently, she held the position of global commercial banking market executive within the Midwest region of Bank of America.
Robert Swanson has been named commercial banking regional manager for the bank’s south region. Swanson has more than 30 years of commercial banking experience in the Chicago market. Most recently, he served as senior vice president, group head for Fifth Third Bank.
Rod Murray joins Associated Bank as commercial banking middle market manager, Illinois. Murray comes to Associated from The PrivateBank, Chicago, where he was managing director and division head for a middle market commercial lending team.
“We are very pleased to welcome this group of talented, seasoned bankers to Associated,” Sander said. “We are excited about the experience and expertise they bring to our customers and our commercial banking team. We look forward to their contributions as we continue to grow our commercial banking business.”
Associated Bank also announced it has created a national Specialized Financial Services Group to capitalize on opportunities in targeted industry segments.
John Utz has been named executive vice president and specialized financial services director. Utz will be based in Milwaukee and will oversee the development of the national Specialized Financial Services Group. Utz recently joined Associated Bank from Union Bank in Los Angeles.
Peter Bulandr has joined the company as specialized financial services market manager. He will be based in Chicago. He joins the company from Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago.
Christopher O’Brien has also been named specialized financial services market manager. O’Brien, who will be based in Chicago, will manage a team focused on secondary education. Prior to joining Associated, he held the position of senior vice president and senior client manager, middle market banking group at Bank of America.
Associated Bank is part of Green Bay-based Associated Banc-Corp.
Anchor Bank to sell branches on June 25
AnchorBank fsb, a wholly owned subsidiary of Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin Inc., has received the necessary regulatory approvals and will move forward with the sale of 11 AnchorBank branches to Royal Credit Union (RCU).
The sale was approved by the NCUA (National Credit Union Association), the Wisconsin Department of Financial Institutions: Office of Credit Unions, FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) and the OTS (Office of Thrift and Supervision).
The branches included in the sale are located in Amery, Balsam Lake, Centuria, Menomonie, Milltown, New Richmond, Osceola, River Falls, St. Croix Falls, Somerset, and Star Prairie. The transaction is scheduled to close on Friday, June 25, with the conversion to occur over the weekend of June 26. The 11 branches will open for business on Monday, June 28, as RCU offices.
"This represents the culmination of many months of planning and activity," said AnchorBank chief executive officer Chris Bauer. "The branch sale is an important, positive step for AnchorBank as we work to reduce our balance sheet and improve our capital levels. We are pleased to accomplish this goal while providing employees and communities continued service."
Under the terms of the agreement, AnchorBank will sell approximately $177 million in deposits, real estate loans and other assets.
