AmericanWest Bancorp in Spokane has dismissed its chief financial officer and promoted its chief operating officer to the position.
Diane L. Kelleher, 47, had been AmericanWest's CFO since June 2005. She was told of her dismissal Tuesday, the $1.4 billion-asset AmericanWest said in a filing Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Her successor, Patrick J. Rusnak, 43, remains the company's chief of operations.
Robert M. Daugherty, the president and chief executive officer, said in an interview Thursday that Ms. Kelleher was dismissed not because of her performance, but because of a recently announced 5% work-force reduction. She will continue to receive her salary for one year.
Also Wednesday, AmericanWest said that it has received shareholder approval for its deal to buy the $405 million-asset Far West Bancorp in Provo, Utah, for $150 million. The deal is expected to close April 1.
AmericanWest's fourth-quarter net income was down 43% from a year earlier, to $2.3 million.
