Yahoo Finance UPDATE 3-NYCB replaces CFO with banking industry veteran Gifford
(Adds background in paragraph 6, other appointments in paragraph 11)
April 12 (Reuters) - New York Community Bancorp on Friday named banking industry veteran Craig Gifford as its finance chief to succeed John Pinto, as it tries to shore up investor confidence after disclosing faults in its financial reporting earlier this year.
The embattled lender did not disclose the details of Pinto's departure in its statement, which also included a slew of other executive appointments including that of Bao Nguyen, who will replace Patrick Quinn as the company's general counsel.
NYCB did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests seeking more details.
The appointment of Gifford, who has most recently worked at US Bancorp, follows two CEO changes at the bank that is now led by Joseph Otting.
NYCB has been under pressure since January when it posted a surprise loss for the fourth quarter due to higher provisions tied to its exposure to the commercial real estate portfolio.
It had also slashed its quarterly dividend by 70% to bolster capital to deal with stricter regulation that banks with assets of more than $100 billion are subject to. NYCB's acquisition of Flagstar Bank in 2022 and some assets of failed Signature Bank last year pushed it above that threshold.
The stock took a further beating in February when NYCB revealed a fourth-quarter loss that was more than 10 times what it previously stated and disclosed faults in its financial reporting in filings.
The bank, however, raised $1 billion from investors including former U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's Liberty Strategic Capital last month.
Investment firms Hudson Bay Capital, Reverence Capital Partners, Citadel Global Equities, other institutional investors and certain members of the bank's management also participated in the investment.
NYCB shares are down about 72% so far this year.
The bank on Friday also named Scott Shepherd as head of commercial real estate lending, and James Simons as special adviser to the CEO. (Reporting by Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
