MADISON, Wis., July 9, 2010 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As part of an ongoing effort to drive operational excellence and strengthen the Bank's management team, AnchorBank, fsb is announcing that its Board of Directors has made several new promotions and appointments. "These promotions and appointments are part of our strategy to strengthen our senior leadership team, leveraging both existing strong players, and where appropriate, bringing in new talent," said AnchorBank Chief Executive Officer Chris Bauer.
Promotions
As part of a strategic combination of the Bank's Residential and Consumer lending divisions into a single Retail Lending Group, Don Bertucci has been promoted to Executive Vice President – Retail Lending. Mr. Bertucci has been with the Bank for 38 years, most recently leading its Residential Mortgage division as Senior Vice President – Residential Lending since 1992. Under Mr. Bertucci's leadership, AnchorBank grew to become a major home lender across Wisconsin, with loan originations of $1.2 billion last fiscal year. Lynette Passini has been promoted to the position of Senior Vice President – Retail Lending Operations. Lynette joined the bank in 1971 and most recently served as 1st Vice President – Residential Lending Operations.
"The combination of our highly successful Residential lending operation and our Consumer lending division, which is largely focused on home equity lending, will help us drive greater operational efficiencies and sales results. Don and Lyn's contributions to AnchorBank over the years have been tremendous, and their experience and skills make them the ideal choice to lead this combined group," said Bauer.
Joseph Hauser has been promoted to 1st Vice President – Internal Audit. Mr. Hauser has been with AnchorBank since 1987 when he joined the Bank as an Assistant Staff Auditor in the Internal Audit Department and was promoted to Vice President – Chief Internal Auditor in August 2009. "Since being promoted to head the Internal Audit Department last year, Joe has brought an increased level of thoroughness and rigor to this critical function. His promotion to 1st Vice President recognizes this success," commented Bauer.
Messrs. Kurt Reindl and Scott Ciano have been named Senior Vice Presidents of the Credit Operations Group and Special Assets Group, respectively. Mr. Reindl has been with the Bank since November 2009 and has been instrumental in consolidating and driving improvements in the area of Credit Administration. He brings more than 20 years of experience in the financial services industry to AnchorBank including experience at Metevante Corporation, TCF Financial Services and Baker Tilly, LLP among others.
Mr. Ciano joined the bank in March 2009 bringing more than 30 years' experience in the industry including positions at Johnson Bank Firstar Bank (now U.S. Bank) and M&I Bank, among other financial institutions.
"Both Kurt and Scott have played key roles as we work to strengthen our ability to respond to today's challenging credit environment. They are central to the process of reengineering our credit management process, and as a result we expect to see substantial improvements in performance and cost savings over time," said Bauer.
Ms. Patricia Carlin has been promoted by the Board to Senior Vice President – Banking Operations. Ms Carlin joined AnchorBank in November 2009 as 1st Vice President – Banking Operations, joining the organization from Banner Bank in Walla Walla, Washington, where she served as Senior Vice President – Payment Operations. Previously Ms. Carlin had held positions at Old Kent, Fifth-Third and Firstar Bank over the last 28 years.
"Pat's extensive experience in banking operations management is a real plus for AnchorBank. Her knowledge and focus on excellence in execution has helped us improve on our existing strengths in banking operations, as well as help us drive more efficiencies and greater performance in this area," said Bauer.
Appointments
In addition to the above outlined promotions, the Board has made several new appointments to the Bank's leadership team. Tom Dolan has been appointed Director of Finance. Mr. Dolan had more than 25 years of experience with LaSalle Bank and Bank of America and has been working with AnchorBank on a consulting basis since December 2009, and led the bank's recent Strategic Business Review process which reduced operating costs by 13 percent. "Tom brings great depth and experience to our Finance area and has played a significant role in the development of our capital planning and cost management efforts," commented Bauer.
The Board of Directors also appointed Ted Kopczynski as a Senior Risk Officer reporting to Martha Hayes, Executive Vice President – Chief Risk Officer. Mr. Kopczynski has nearly 30 years of commercial lending experience having held positions at Citigroup, UBS Financial Services, Merrill Lynch and most recently AMCORE Bank. "Ted's extensive commercial lending experience will help us, especially during these difficult times in the credit market. He will focus on managing risk within our substandard and non-performing loan portfolios," said Bauer.
About AnchorBank:
Founded in 1919, AnchorBank is one of the state's largest financial institutions with more than 60 locations throughout Wisconsin. AnchorBank, fsb is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Anchor BanCorp Wisconsin, Inc. Anchor BanCorp's stock is traded on the over-the-counter market under the NASDAQ symbol ABCW. More information about AnchorBank is available online at www.anchorbank.com.
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, as that term is defined in the U.S. federal securities laws. In the normal course of business, we, in an effort to help keep our shareholders and the public informed about our operations, may from time to time issue or make certain statements, either in writing or orally, that are or contain forward-looking statements. Generally, these statements relate to business plans or strategies, projected or anticipated benefits from acquisitions or dispositions made by or to be made by us, projections involving anticipated revenues, earnings, liquidity, profitability or other aspects of operating results or other future developments in our affairs or the industry in which we conduct business. Although we believe that the anticipated results or other expectations reflected in our forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance that those results or expectations will be attained. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and we undertake no obligation to update them in light of new information or future events, except to the extent required by federal securities laws. Please refer to our Annual Report for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2010 on Form 10-K, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, for a more comprehensive discussion of forward-looking statements and the risks and uncertainties associated with our business.