The DOJ doubles down on AI, HTLF's CEO announces retirement

February 23, 2024 2:08 PM

The Department of Justice appoints Jonathan Mayer as its first chief AI officer, HTLF's CEO Bruce Lee plans to retire, Wilmington Trust's Doris Meister will step down in May, and more in the weekly banking news roundup.

A boat passes in front of the San Francisco skyline as seen from the Port of Oakland.

Five Star expands in San Francisco

Five Star Bancorp hired a team of five commercial bankers in San Francisco and will open a full-service office in the city in the third quarter.

The $3.6 billion-asset bank said in a press release the new hires would join an existing team in the city led by Bay Area Region President DJ Kurtze. The Rancho Cordova, California-based bank expanded into San Francisco last year, when it opened a loan production office in the financial district. It did so after Silicon Valley Bank was taken over by regulators in the wake of customers withdrawing billions of deposits. First Republic Bank in San Francisco also failed last year.

"There is a gap in San Francisco commercial banking left from Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank failures," Kurtze said in a release. "That is why the Bay Area entrepreneurial community has been seeking a Northern California bank that provides a high-touch, highly personalized concierge banking experience." — Jim Dobbs

HTLF CEO Bruce Lee announces retirement plan

Heartland Financial USA in Denver, which does business as HTLF, said its chief executive plans to retire. Bruce Lee, president and CEO of the $19.4 billion-asset banking company, said in a press release he intends to step down at the end of 2024. Lee, who also serves as a director, said he will retire from the board as well.

HTLF's board will conduct a nationwide search for Lee's successor. Lee will continue to serve as CEO until his replacement assumes the role. He will assist with the transition through year-end, the company said.

During the transition, the company will continue to execute an ongoing strategic initiative to bolster customer service, drive efficiency, grow revenue and deliver higher returns on assets, HTLF said. As part of that effort, the company said this month it struck two deals to sell its branches in Montana. It expects to exit the state and will focus more on other markets and digital banking.

"We are very, very focused on organic growth" in the Midwest and West, Lee said in an interview after the Montana announcement. — Jim Dobbs

Chair and CEO of Wilmington Trust to step down

Doris Meister, chair and CEO of Wilmington Trust, announced this week that she is stepping down at the end of May.

Meister, a longtime Most Powerful Women in Finance honoree, joined the bank in 2016 to beef up its wealth management division. "My years here have been among the most challenging and fulfilling of my career. My most important accomplishment has been building a team that shares our vision and executes at the highest level. It is the most talented team I've worked with in this business. Transformation takes courage and commitment, and I am proud of my colleagues in Wealth for always embracing change," she wrote in a LinkedIn post.

Upon leaving Wilmington Trust, Meister will start an advisory and consulting firm and work with private equity firms and fintechs in the wealth management space. —Mary Ellen Egan

Department of Justice names its first chief AI officer

The Department of Justice is doubling down on its artificial intelligence efforts. On Thursday, it named Jonathan Mayer as its first chief science and technology advisor and chief artificial intelligence (AI) officer.

Previously, Mayer was an assistant professor at Princeton University's Department of Computer Science and School of Public and International Affairs. In this new role, Mayer will advise the attorney general and other leadership, lend expertise across the department on topics including cybersecurity and AI, help recruit technical talent and work on intradepartmental and cross-agency efforts on AI.

"The Justice Department must keep pace with rapidly evolving scientific and technological developments," said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a press release.— Miriam Cross

JPMorgan’s leveraged-loan victory survives Supreme Court appeal

The Supreme Court turned away an appeal that might have upended the $1.4 trillion leveraged loan market, leaving intact a legal victory for JPMorgan Chase and other banks.

The justices, without explanation or any published dissent, refused to hear arguments from bankruptcy trustee Marc Kirschner in a clash over a $1.8 billion leveraged loan taken out by the drug-testing company Millennium Health.

Kirschner argued unsuccessfully that syndicated loans, in which a bank lends money to a company and then syndicates the notes to investors, are subject to regulation as securities. Leveraged loans are a subset of syndicated loans.

The New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against Kirschner in August in a 3-0 decision. — Greg Stohr and Scott Carpenter, Bloomberg News

Goldman’s co-head of Middle East investment bank to leave

Goldman Sachs' Selma Hassan, one of the Middle East's most experienced female bankers, is set to leave the Wall Street firm to join a logistics firm.

Hassan, who is a managing director and co-head of the New York-based investment bank in the Middle East and North Africa, is joining Rapid Response Services International, according to a person familiar with the matter. She joined the lender in London in 2005 before moving to Dubai.

A representative for Goldman Sachs declined to comment.

Hassan became regional head of the group's investment bank in 2019 and was appointed co-head two years later when Goldman Sachs tapped Jassim AlSane, a senior Citigroup banker, to lead the division with her. — Nicolas Parasie, Bloomberg News

JPMorgan Joins Messi frenzy with Inter Miami stadium deal

JPMorgan Chase is the latest company looking to cash in on Lionel Messi.

The biggest U.S. bank signed a two-year deal for the naming rights of Messi's Inter Miami CF home venue in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. JPMorgan is replacing AutoNation, a car retailer that was the original sponsor of DRV PNK Stadium.

The transaction marks JPMorgan's first naming venture in professional soccer, according to a statement Tuesday. It adds to a series of high-profile relationships the bank has across the sports industry, including the Chase Center basketball arena in San Francisco and a partnership with NBA's Atlanta Hawks.

But Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale is set to be only temporary. Inter Miami is expected to move out of the 21,550-seat venue by 2025, the last year of Messi's contract. — Felipe Marques, Bloomberg News

U.S. Bancorp launches new division

U.S. Bancorp has launched a new division that will focus on private capital firms and asset managers, a sector that continues growing and where the bank says it has more than 200 clients.

The group will centralize existing parts of the $663-billion bank's services to those clients. It will be led by Stephen Jeselson, who has more than two decades of experience working with the sector and has been managing director at U.S. Bank for five years.

The Minneapolis-based bank offers financing options, foreign exchange tools, treasury management and trustee services for asset managers, among other things. Its Corporate Trust and Global Fund Services division also offers fund administration services for mutual funds and other custody solutions. — Polo Rocha