Frank Holding Sr. Retiring from First Citizens in North Carolina

First Citizens BancShares (FCNCA) in Raleigh, N.C., said that another key member of its controlling family is stepping down.

The $21 billion-asset company said in a regulatory filing Friday that Frank Holding Sr. will retire from the board following its April 29 annual meeting. Holding, 85, will also retire down as executive vice chairman of the company and its First-Citizens Bank & Trust on Sept. 2.

Holding started working at the bank in 1957.

The Holding family's controlling stake goes back three generations, and family members directly or indirectly own more than 90% of the company's voting shares. Three family members are on the company's board. First Citizens is the second-biggest family-owned bank in the country, trailing only the $27 billion-asset BOK Financial (BOKF).

Frank Holding’s father, Robert, was president of First Citizens from 1918 until his death in 1957. His brother, Lewis, then ran the company for more than 50 years. In 2008, Frank Holding Jr. succeeded Lewis Holding, who died in August 2009.

Carmen Holding Ames, Lewis Holding's daughter, sold more than $225 million of stock in late 2012, nearly erasing her ownership of 30% of First Citizens' voting rights. Ames, who had been a director since 1996, also resigned from the board.