A big shakeup has taken place at First Niagara Financial Group with the announcement that President and CEO John Koelmel has stepped down. Koelmel's sudden departure is immediate. Gary Crosby, First Niagara's executive vice president and operations officer, will serve in as interim leader.
The bank's board chairman says Koelmel's departure was mutually agreed upon Tuesday. The Western New York native took leadership of the bank in 2005.
"John Koelmel has guided the company's transformation from a local thrift to a leading northeast banking franchise, and led First Niagara during a period of difficult economic conditions and financial industry turmoil," Chairman of the Board, G. Thomas Bowers, said.
"The Board and I are grateful to John for his leadership through this critical period in our history and for positioning us so that we can focus on enhancing shareholder value through continuing organic growth and the efficient operation of the business we have today."
"I highly value the opportunity to have driven First Niagara's rapid growth over the last six years and to position it as one of the top regional banking franchises in the Northeast. And I thank all 6,000 of my teammates for their tremendous support. I agree with the Board that it's in the best interests of the organization under present circumstances to move forward with new leadership," Koelmel said in a statement.
Crosby, 59, is the former chief financial officer for the Buffalo Public Schools.
Koelmel led the bank through a period of rapid growth since taking over in 2005, including its acquisition of HSBC Bank USA's entire upstate New York branch network. The bank now has 430 branches in four states and $37 billion in assets. It employs 6,000 people in New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
The board says a special committee has been formed to conduct a search for a permanent president and CEO. An executive search firm will be hired to assist in the selection process.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.