Regions Promotes Two Executives, Consolidates Geographic Divisions

Regions Financial (RF) has shuffled its executive ranks, most notably promoting John Owen to oversee consumer and business banking and Keith Herron to lead strategic planning.

The Birmingham, Ala., company also consolidated from four to three regional divisions. It operates in 16 states.

“As we focus on prudent growth we are fine-tuning our organization to better integrate and execute our strategic priorities across all business lines and geographies,” Regions’ president and chief executive, Grayson Hall, said in a news release.

The $128 billion-asset bank has battled credit quality issues in recent years largely from real estate lending in the Southeast. However, this year it posted a higher-than-expected profit in the first quarter, sold its Morgan Keegan unit, raised $900 million in capital and paid off its $3.5 billion in Troubled Asset Relief Program funds. 

Regions has made several management changes since naming Hall its CEO two years ago. It named a new chief financial officer and other executives before he took over, overhauled its risk management team later that year and named a new wealth management chief last year.

In the moves announced Tuesday, Owen, who had been leading consumer services, moves into a newly created position that adds oversight of lending, wealth management and business services. Scott Peters, previously the chief marketing officer, will fill Owen’s former position as head of consumer services and report to Owen.

Herron becomes head of strategic planning and execution, also a newly created position. Herron will “more rapidly translate” its strategic priorities in all of its markets and  focus “on critical priorities such as cross-sell, account retention, service quality, performance management and business process improvement, among others,” Regions said.

Herron was president of Regions’ Midsouth division.

Regions’ new divisions are: East (representing east Tennessee, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia); South (Alabama, south Louisiana, Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle); and Mid-America (middle and west Tennessee, Texas, north Louisiana, Missouri, Arkansas, Indiana, Kentucky, Illinois and Iowa).

The old divisions were Florida, Southwest, MidSouth and Central.

Brett Couch in Tampa, Fla. is leading the East division;  John Turner in Birmingham is leading the South division; and Ronnie Smith in Nashville, Tenn., is overseeing Mid-America division.