Former exec of First Republic Bank chosen to succeed Webster’s retiring CFO

HBJ PHOTO | ANDREW LARSON Webster Bank's office at 145 Bank St., Waterbury.

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The former chief financial officer of a San Francisco bank that failed last year has been hired by Stamford-based Webster Financial Corp. to succeed its retiring CFO.

William (Neal) Holland, who served as CFO for First Republic Bank until May 1, 2023, when it became the second-largest bank failure in U.S. history, has been appointed as executive vice president, finance, for both Webster Financial and Webster Bank, the company said Monday in a news release.

In addition, the board of directors approved appointing Holland as CFO for both organizations.

He will succeed Glenn MacInnes, who previously announced plans to retire and is expected to step down in August. When he does retire, MacInnes will assume an advisory role, Webster said.

First Republic Bank, which primarily served wealthy clients, was shut down by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation last year. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) was appointed receiver.

The FDIC subsequently sold all of the bank’s deposit accounts and substantially all of its assets to JPMorgan Chase Bank.

First Republic faltered following a run on deposits after two other large regional banks — Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank — collapsed a few weeks earlier. All three banks held large amounts of uninsured deposits.

In its press release announcing Holland’s hiring, Webster did not mention the First Republic failure. The release states only that Holland has more than 20 years of financial experience, “including most recently serving as CFO for First Republic Bank until May 2023.”

According to his LinkedIn profile, Holland served as First Republic's CFO for only eight months, from November 2022 to May 2023.

Alice Ferreira, a spokeswoman for Webster Bank, said the decision to hire Holland was based on the "wealth of his experience."

"He does come from very large banking institutes, and as Webster continues to grow, that kind of experience is very valuable to us," she said.

Holland’s resume also includes previously serving as CFO of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Union Bank and MUFG Americas Holding Corp. Holland is a CPA with a CFA distinction, and has a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Washington.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Webster states that Holland will receive an annual base salary of $650,000, a target annual cash incentive award of 110% of his annual base salary (pro-rated at target for the first year) and a target annual long-term incentive award of 190% of his annual base salary.

Within four weeks of his appointment EVP-Finance, Holland will also receive a one-time grant of $750,000 of Webster restricted stock with a time-based three-year vesting schedule; $200,000 in a cash sign-on award, with half paid at the start date and half paid six months later; and $600,000 in cross-country relocation benefits.

Also on Monday, Webster announced the election of William (Bill) Haas as a new non-management member of the board for both the company and the bank.

Haas held numerous leadership roles during his 38-year career at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the federal regulator for national banks, including deputy comptroller for Midsize Bank Supervision.

Haas also led the commercial credit risk team at Norwest Corp., and served as a member of the OCC credit risk team at US Bank Corp.

He is currently a senior advisor to the Midsize Bank Coalition of America (MBCA). He graduated from Hastings College in Nebraska with a degree in business administration and political science.