By Angela Chen
Fifth Third Bancorp named Chief Operating Officer Greg
Carmichael as chief executive effective Nov. 1, succeeding Kevin
Kabat who plans to retire.
Mr. Kabat, who has served as chief executive since April 2007
and helped the Ohio regional bank navigate the financial crisis,
spent 33 years at the company and a predecessor. He will remain
executive vice chairman until his retirement next April.
Mr. Carmichael, who was also elected to the board, joined Fifth
Third in 2003 in the information technology division and then
became chief operating officer in 2006. By 2009, his
responsibilities expanded to include leading the retail bank,
business banking and all affiliate banks. He was named president in
2012.
He previously served as chief information officer at Emerson
Electric Co. and in leadership roles in information technology at
General Electric Co. for more than a decade.
As of March 31, the Cincinnati-based regional lender had $140
billion in assets and operated 15 affiliates with 1,303
full-service banking centers. Like other lenders, Fifth Third has
faced pressure on its mortgage business as prolonged low interest
rates have limited interest income and prompted cost-cutting.
The board also approved an increase in Mr. Carmichael's base
salary, effective immediately. The new base will be $800,000. In
addition, the board increased his annual incentive award for this
year to $1.2 million and his target long-term equity incentive
award for 2015 to $3.5 million.
Mr. Carmichael's salary in 2014 was $709,203, according to a
filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Kabat's
salary was about $1 million.
In June, Fifth Third said it plans to consolidate or sell about
100 of its branches and about 30 other properties, a move that
comes as mobile and electronic banking grow in popularity.
Since the financial crisis, U.S. banks have been ramping up
mobile and online services and moving away from physical locations
to avoid overlap, and branch numbers have been on a steady decline
as a result.
Shares of Fifth Third, inactive premarket, have increased about
2% this year through Tuesday's close.
Write to Angela Chen at angela.chen@dowjones.com
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