First Union Corp., in the midst of a top-level reorganization, has settled on a lineup for its operations and technology divisions, and Bank One Corp. has reaped some of the spoils.
P. Sue Perrotty, a First Union insider who most recently led the general banking group's Pennsylvania/Delaware region, will take over operations for the Charlotte, N.C., company, reporting to chief executive officer G. Kennedy Thompson, and will be part of the executive management team, the company said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Bank One announced Wednesday that it has hired Austin A. Adams, who was executive vice president of First Union's automation and operations group. Mr. Adams will join the Chicago company March 1 as head of technology and operations and report to chairman/CEO James Dimon.
Mr. Adams spent 16 years at First Union and 12 years at its predecessor, Northwestern Financial Corp.
"Austin Adams has exactly the experience and knowledge to help implement the technology and systems we need at Bank One to provide our customers excellent service," Mr. Dimon said in an interview. "He knows our system needs. He knows the importance of creating a single, efficient platform."
He succeeds Marvin Adams, who announced his retirement last summer. The two are not related.
Mr. Adams will be primarily responsible for consolidating Bank One's seven deposit systems. The company has earmarked $150 million a year for the next three years for the effort, the first phase of which should be complete by the third quarter, when the deposit system in Texas and Louisiana is to be converted.
Mr. Dimon and his new hire will travel to Texas and Louisiana soon to get the project started. "I want to do it right," Mr. Dimon said in an interview Wednesday.
Mr. Adams converted more than 90 banking companies into a single platform when he was at First Union, Mr. Dimon said.
Mr. Adams' departure opened the door for Ms. Perrotty, who had been looking for a new position since the end of January, when First Union began cutting senior-level positions in its general bank group.
As head of operations, Ms. Perrotty said in an interview, she will look at "how we differentiate ourselves through operations." The unit oversees the bank's transaction processing and support functions.
Since she began working at CoreStates Financial Corp., which First Union acquired in 1998, Ms. Perrotty has become one of the highest-ranking women at the company. She has held various positions in banking since 1981, including chief information and technology officer, and leadership roles in consumer business, distribution, and operations.
Ms. Perrotty ran operations at Meridian Bancorp before that company merged with CoreStates, which adopted Meridian's reputable and highly automated branch platform, said Lori Appelbaum, an analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
First Union is peeling away layers of top management in an initiative to slash costs by $300 million to $400 million and otherwise improve efficiency after suffering losses from bad loans and from expenses that have grown disproportionately to revenues.
As another result of Mr. Adams' departure, David Carroll, First Union's executive vice president and chief e-commerce officer, will take on an additional role, head of the technology division. He will continue to report to Mr. Thompson.
Uniting the core technology systems with the Internet "gives us a chance to move a little faster," Mr. Carroll said.
