Citizens Bank names new CEO; Steinour resigns

Stephen D. Steinour, the chief executive officer of Citizens Financial Group Inc. who put the bank's name on the Phillies baseball park, is resigning and handing the reins to Connecticut-based Citizens executive Ellen Alemany.

Citizens Bank, a unit of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group P.L.C., has the second-largest bank-branch network in Philadelphia and its Pennsylvania suburbs, after Wachovia Corp.

In its announcement yesterday of Steinour's departure for personal reasons and Alemany's appointment, Citizens also named veteran commercial banker James G. Connolly, a former Bank of America Corp. executive in New England, as president of Citizens Financial Group.

Steinour had run Citizens' Pennsylvania operations since the bank bought Mellon PSFS's branch network in 2001. He used an extensive advertising campaign to raise Citizens' profile in the vacuum created by the sale of the region's major banks to outside companies in the 1990s.

Under Steinour, Citizens gained market share in the Philadelphia bank-deposit market compared with its predecessor, Mellon PSFS, and in contrast to the usual decline many banks suffer after a takeover.

In 2003, Citizens under Steinour negotiated to pay $95 million over 25 years for naming rights and advertising guarantees to the Phillies' stadium - now Citizens Bank Park - in South Philadelphia, beating would-be rivals including Commerce Bancorp Inc. and Sovereign Bancorp Inc.

Steinour became active in the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce and civic and lobbying activities, even reaching out to rival Hugh Long, who runs Wachovia's northern region from Philadelphia.

But in the last year, Steinour, who took over CEO duties from mentor Lawrence Fish, said his schedule became grueling.

"I've been on the road mostly five days a week," said Steinour, a Gettysburg native. "Every Monday I'm in Providence" in Rhode Island, where Citizens is based. He traveled frequently to Pittsburgh and to Citizens operations in the Midwest.

"My kids are 12 and 15. I've missed a lot. I don't want to miss everything," Steinour said.

He said he had taken a job at a Philadelphia-area company, which he declined to name.

Fish, Steinour's predecessor, built Citizens into one of the 10 largest U.S. banks in a series of acquisitions over 15 years.

"Steve has been a terrific leader at Citizens," Fish said in a statement. "No one has worked harder or with more dedication to our company's great success."

Steinour's departure leaves Daniel Fitzpatrick, a former Bank of America executive, as the bank's highest-ranking Philadelphia-based executive.

Steinour recruited Fitzpatrick last summer after his former No. 2, Lisa Binder, left. "Steve was very straightforward that he'd be spending more time with his family," Fitzpatrick said.

Among the projects Citizens financed on Steinour's watch was the purchase of The Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com by Philadelphia Media Holdings L.L.C. in 2006.

Alemany joined Citizens last year after quitting Citigroup Inc. during a corporate shake-up. She formerly headed Citigroup's technology and corporate-lending divisions.

Alemany will visit Philadelphia soon and meet with bank workers and clients, Fitzpatrick said.