WATERBURY, Conn., Sept. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Webster
Financial Corporation (NYSE: WBS), the holding company for Webster
Bank, N.A. and its HSA Bank division, announced today that
James C. Smith, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer (CEO), following a distinguished career with
Webster spanning more than four decades, will retire from Webster
and transition to non executive chairman.
John R. Ciulla, President, will
become the company's CEO and a member of the holding company's
Board of Directors. Ciulla will succeed Smith, who has served as
Webster's CEO since 1987, and will be the third CEO in Webster's
82-year history. These changes, effective January 1, 2018, reflect the culmination of a
multi-year leadership succession planning process.
"It has been an honor to lead Webster and work with our
community-minded, values-guided bankers as we've built Webster into
the leading regional bank we are today," said Smith. "Over the past
10 years in particular, we've undertaken a transformation to
position Webster for continued growth as a high-performing regional
bank. We have successfully developed and implemented our strategic
management framework, which invests capital and resources to
support strategies that create value for our customers and
shareholders."
"John has contributed greatly to our successful transformation
based on his consistently high performance, strategic acumen and
strong leadership skills," said Smith. "The Board and I are proud
to select an internal candidate who understands well our business
segments and who is a reliable steward of Webster's culture, which
is centered on its values of responsibility, respectfulness,
trustworthiness, citizenship and teamwork. We are confident that
John is the ideal leader to advance Webster's mission of helping
individuals, families and businesses achieve their financial
goals."
"On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Jim for his
inspirational leadership, unrivaled integrity and extraordinary
accomplishments during the past 30 years as CEO," said John J. Crawford, lead independent director of
the Webster Board of Directors. "John is the natural choice to
succeed Jim. He has been a key member of our executive management
team for more than a decade, and his extensive experience with, and
knowledge of, our businesses and the industry have prepared him to
successfully lead and grow Webster. The Board looks forward to
working with Jim, John and the leadership team to ensure a seamless
transition to the benefit of all Webster stakeholders."
Ciulla joined Webster in 2004 as senior vice president for
Middle Market Banking and has served in a variety of management
positions with increasing responsibility, including as chief credit
risk officer from 2008 to 2010. He was promoted to executive vice
president and head of Middle Market Banking in 2011, and became
head of Commercial Banking in 2014. Ciulla was appointed president
of Webster in 2015, and is currently responsible for the management
of most of the company's business units and support functions.
Ciulla is also the president of the bank's holding company and a
member of the Webster Bank, N.A.
Board of Directors.
Said Ciulla, "I have had the privilege of working closely with
Jim over the past 14 years and appreciate and value his principled
leadership and extraordinary contributions to Webster. I have
benefitted from his counsel throughout my career at Webster, and
especially from our close working relationship these past few
years. As Webster's incoming CEO, I look forward to working with
our strong executive management team and leveraging my experience
to ensure the great heritage and legacy of Webster continue to be
the foundation to advance our strategic priorities."
About Webster
Webster Financial Corporation is the
holding company for Webster Bank, National Association. With
$26.2 billion in assets, Webster
provides business and consumer banking, mortgage, financial
planning, trust, and investment services through 167 banking
centers and 343 ATMs. Webster also provides mobile and Internet
banking. Webster Bank owns the asset-based lending firm Webster
Business Credit Corporation; the equipment finance firm Webster
Capital Finance Corporation; and HSA Bank, a division of Webster
Bank, which provides health savings account trustee and
administrative services. Webster Bank is a member of the FDIC and
an equal housing lender. For more information about Webster,
including past press releases and the latest annual report, visit
the Webster website at www.websterbank.com.
Media Contact: Investor Contact:
Alice Ferreira, 203-610-1521 Terry Mangan, 203-578-2318
acferreira@websterbank.com tmangan@websterbank.com
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SOURCE Webster Financial Corporation