LONDON,
ON, July 15, 2024 /CNW/ - VersaBank (TSX:
VBNK) ( NASDAQ: VBNK), a North American leader in
business-to-business digital banking, as well as technology
solutions for cybersecurity, today announced the appointments of
four senior executives to its newly created U.S. subsidiary,
VersaBank USA:
- Tel Matrundola, President;
- Shawn Clarke, Chief Operating
Officer;
- Tim Bloom, Chief Risk Officer;
and
- Kevin Sullivan, Bank Secrecy Act
(BSA) Officer.
Messrs. Matrundola and Clarke will move from VersaBank Canada to
their new roles at VersaBank USA.
The appointments are subject to approval by the VersaBank
USA board upon completion of the
U.S. bank acquisition, which has been approved by both U.S. and
Canadian regulators, and is scheduled for closing on August 30, 2024.
"The appointments of these four experienced bank industry
veterans establishes the senior team that will oversee our U.S.
operations and will enable VersaBank to hit the ground running with
our innovative Receivables Purchase Program (RPP) immediately
following close of our U.S. bank acquisition later this summer,"
said David Taylor, President and
Chief Executive Officer, VersaBank.
"Messrs. Matrundola and Clarke have played integral roles with
VersaBank for 21 and 19 years, respectively, amounting to
significant growth of our RPP solution in Canada, where it has grown at a compounded
rate of more than 26 percent annually over the last five
years. We look forward to leveraging the expertise they have
gained in Canada as we launch our
proven RPP solution in the multi-trillion-dollar U.S. point-of-sale
financing market. Both Messrs. Matrundola and Clarke were
instrumental to the success of our 18-month U.S. pilot program for
the RPP. This experience will be invaluable as we broadly
role out our program in the U.S. later this year.
"I am very pleased to welcome Messrs. Bloom and Sullivan to
VersaBank. With more than 20 years of experience in the U.S.
banking sector, Mr. Bloom assumes a crucial role for our U.S.
subsidiary as we adhere to the same ultra-low risk strategy in the
U.S. that has resulted in our unmatched track record of no material
loan losses during our 30-plus year history.
"Mr. Sullivan is one of the foremost experts on financial crime
and money laundering in North
America. The combination of Mr. Sullivan and
Garry Clement, VersaBank's Chief
Anti-Money Laundering Officer, for our Canadian banking operations
and another leading expert in the field, is a formidable team to
ensure VersaBank is not only in compliance with each countries'
laws and regulations, but continuously at the forefront of this
ever-evolving and increasingly important challenge to financial
institutions, as it has been throughout its history," added
Taylor.
Tel Matrundola joined VersaBank in 2003 as Vice President of
Public & Corporate Affairs. In May
2016, he was appointed Chair of PWC Capital, the former
parent company of VersaBank, later serving as Chief Strategy
Officer, and Executive Vice President. During Mr. Matrundola's
20-year tenure with VersaBank, he has served continuously on every
senior executive committee and has worked closely supporting the
President & CEO on the Bank's strategic initiatives.
Previously, Mr. Matrundola served in the Government of Canada as Senior Policy Advisor to the Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Senior Policy Advisor to
the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Policy Advisor to the Minister
of Industry. His policy focus as Senior Advisor was Canada-US
Relations, NAFTA, Post 9-11 Security and Anti-Terrorism, National
Security, Border Issues, and the creation of Nexus. Mr. Matrundola
also has extensive experience in the Real Estate Development
Industry. Mr. Matrundola earned a Ph.D. in International
Relations and Diplomacy from the American Graduate School in
Paris, in 1997, a Master of Arts
in International Relations & Diplomacy from Schiller
University's Paris campus, in
1993, and an Honours Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Toronto, in 1992, with additional
studies at l'Universite de Paris XI, and the University of
Siena.
Mr. Clarke joined VersaBank in 2009 and has held progressively
senior positions in corporate development, technology, risk, and
finance over his tenure with the Bank, including Chief Risk Officer
and Senior Vice President, Operations, as well as Chief Operating
Officer of a subsidiary of the Bank. In 2017, Mr. Clarke was
appointed Chief Financial Officer and since that time has
contributed to the operating performance of the Bank through his
leadership and guidance in the areas of performance planning and
analysis, as well as financial and capital management. He has
also led important initiatives, including leading the Bank's
finance team through underwriter due diligence and analysis
associated with VersaBank's US $75
million private placement of subordinated notes with US
institutional investors and the Bank's US $63 million common share offering concurrent with
the listing of the Bank's common stock on the NASDAQ exchange,
leading the Bank's finance team through the financial and
administrative due diligence associated with the acquisition of the
company Digital Boundary Group by VersaBank's wholly owned
subsidiary DRT Cyber Inc. rebuilding the Bank's financial planning
function as well as leading the Bank's adoption of IFRS 9 Financial
Instruments. Mr. Clarke holds M. Eng and B.Eng degrees from
McMaster University and an MBA
(Finance) degree from Wilfrid Laurier
University.
Mr. Bloom is a results-oriented Enterprise Risk Management
leader with over 20 years of experience in the financial services
industry. He has held senior-level positions at leading financial
institutions, including NASDAQ, SOFI Technologies, and the Federal
Home Loan Bank of San Francisco,
where he developed and implemented risk management frameworks and
strategies that align with both organizational and regulatory
objectives. A proven expert in creating risk appetite frameworks
and data-driven risk management approaches, Timothy has a track
record of success in mitigating risks and achieving strategic
goals. In addition to his professional accomplishments, Timothy has
taught Risk Management at Columbia
University and holds a Master's degree in Enterprise Risk
Management from the same institution. His passion for helping
organizations manage risk and achieve their goals makes him a
valuable asset to our team.
Mr. Sullivan has more than 30 years of experience in police and
financial crime experience focusing on money laundering, narcotics,
organized crime and terrorist financing and financial institution
liaison. Prior thereto, Mr. Sullivan spent 22 years in law
enforcement culminating in his role with the New York State Police as the New York State Money Laundering Coordinator
detailed to the High Intensity Financial Crimes Area of the El
Dorado Task Force Mr. Sullivan is also the author of the book AML
in a Nutshell and host of the AML podcast C-Notes. Mr. Sullivan
possesses a Master's degree in Economic Crime Management from Utica
University. Mr. Sullivan has assisted ACAMS with their
Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist certification as well as
other financial crimes related certifications.
About VersaBank
VersaBank is a Canadian Schedule I chartered (federally
licensed) bank with a difference. VersaBank became the world's
first fully digital financial institution when it adopted its
highly efficient business-to-business model in 1993 using its
proprietary state-of-the-art financial technology to profitably
address underserved segments of the Canadian banking market in the
pursuit of superior net interest margins while mitigating risk.
VersaBank obtains all of its deposits and provides the majority of
its loans and leases electronically, with innovative deposit and
lending solutions for financial intermediaries that allow them to
excel in their core businesses. In addition, leveraging its
internally developed IT security software and capabilities,
VersaBank established wholly owned, Washington, DC-based subsidiary, DRT Cyber
Inc. to pursue significant large-market opportunities in cyber
security and develop innovative solutions to address the rapidly
growing volume of cyber threats challenging financial institutions,
multi-national corporations and government entities on a daily
basis.
VersaBank's Common Shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange
("TSX") and Nasdaq under the symbol VBNK. Its Series 1 Preferred
Shares trade on the TSX under the symbol VBNK.PR.A.
Forward-Looking Statements
VersaBank's public communications often include written or oral
forward-looking statements. Statements of this type are included in
this document, and may be included in other filings and with
Canadian securities regulators or the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission, or in other communications. All such statements are
made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of, and are intended
to be forward-looking statements under, the United States Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and any applicable
Canadian securities legislation. The statements in this press
release that relate to the future are forward-looking statements.
By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent
risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, many of which
are out of our control. Risks exist that predictions, forecasts,
projections, and other forward-looking statements will not be
achieved. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
these forward-looking statements as several important factors could
cause actual results to differ materially from the plans,
objectives, expectations, estimates and intentions expressed in
such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not
limited to, the strength of the Canadian and U.S. economy in
general and the strength of the local economies within Canada and U.S. in which we conduct
operations; the effects of changes in monetary and fiscal policy,
including changes in interest rate policies of the Bank of
Canada and the U.S. Federal
Reserve; changing global commodity prices; the effects of
competition in the markets in which we operate; inflation; capital
market fluctuations; the timely development and introduction of new
products in receptive markets; the impact of changes in the laws
and regulations pertaining to financial services; changes in tax
laws; technological changes; unexpected judicial or regulatory
proceedings; unexpected changes in consumer spending and savings
habits; the impact of wars or conflicts including the crisis in
Ukraine and the impact of the crisis on global supply chains;
the impact of new variants of COVID-19 and the Bank's anticipation
of and success in managing the risks implicated by the foregoing.
For a detailed discussion of certain key factors that may affect
our future results, please see our annual MD&A for the year
ended October 31, 2023.
The foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive. When
relying on forward-looking statements to make decisions, investors
and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and
other uncertainties and potential events. The forward-looking
information contained in this document and the related management's
discussion and analysis is presented to assist our shareholders and
others in understanding our financial position and may not be
appropriate for any other purposes. Except as required by
securities law, we do not undertake to update any forward-looking
statement that is contained in this document and the related
management's discussion and analysis or made from time to time by
the Bank or on its behalf.
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