In Brief: Carver of N.Y. Names 3 Senior Managers

Seven months after selecting a chief executive, Carver Bancorp in New York has appointed the rest of its new senior management team.

Carver, which at $421 million of assets is the nation's largest minority-owned bank, named Benny A. Joseph 2d chief lending officer, Margaret D. Peterson chief administrative officer, and Daphne E. Heslop chief auditor. Mr. Joseph previously worked in New York for Fleet Boston Corp., Ms. Peterson at Deutsche Bank, and Ms. Heslop at Garden City, N.Y.-based Roosevelt Savings Bank.

The new team's mission is to help rebuild Carver, a 51-year-old institution that has had problems with its loan portfolio and a data processing system conversion. Shortly after reporting a $5.7 million pretax loss for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, 1998, Carver fired longtime chief executive Thomas L. Clark Jr.

The bank has had three consecutive profitable quarters, recently reporting net income of $674,665 for the three months that ended Sept. 30.

Deborah C. Wright, who was hired in April to fill Mr. Clark's position, said the new executives will be responsible for helping her complete the turnaround.

"While I have witnessed the commitment of many of our existing employees to serve our customers and our community, we must take our strengths to the next level," she said. "These new managers have the ability to help restore Carver's competitiveness in the next century."

Carver also took a step last week to defuse a lawsuit filed against it this month, announcing that its annual shareholders meeting would be held Feb. 24. Boston Bank of Commerce, a $103 million-asset bank that owns 7% of Carver's shares, demanded in the suit that a meeting of shareholders be scheduled.

Boston Bank of Commerce made two unsolicited offers to buy Carver this year. Both were rebuffed by Carver's board.

-- Louis Whiteman

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