MIDWEST
First National Bank and Trust of Indianapolis has hired the turnaround specialist Gerald Francis as its chief executive officer and a board member.
He resigned last month as the president and chief executive officer of City Holding Co. of Charleston, W.Va., whose helm he had assumed in 2001. The company, which owns City National Bank, posted record earnings for 2004.
Mr. Francis was the president of Peoples Bank and Trust Co. of Indianapolis from 1995 to 1999, when Fifth Third Bancorp bought it. He was the president of Metropolitan Bank of Lima, Ohio, from 1982 to 1989, when the old Banc One Corp. bought it.
First National has $1.5 billion of assets. Its holding company is Hasten Bancshares.
LNB Bancorp Inc. of Lorain, Ohio, has hired Daniel E. Klimas as the president and chief executive officer of the company and its $771 million-asset Lorain National Bank. Mr. Klimas had been the president of Huntington Bancshares Inc. 's northern Ohio operations since 2001.In his new job he succeeded James Kidd, who had been the interim CEO since December 2003 and will remain the vice chairman of LNB's board.
MIDDLE ATLANTICF.N.B. Corp. of Hermitage, Pa., has hired Scott D. Free as the treasurer of the company and its $5 billion-asset First National Bank, of which he will also be a senior vice president.
Mr. Free was a senior vice president and a portfolio manager at FirstMerit Corp., which owns the $10 billion-asset FirstMerit Bank of Akron.
At F.N.B. he succeeded David Mogle, who will remain the secretary of the company and the bank.
F.N.B. has also made Mark D. Lozzi the chief financial officer and a senior vice president of a subsidiary, Regency Finance Co. of Warren, Ohio. Mr. Lozzi had been the vice president of reporting and planning since joining First National Bank last year.
Before that he had been the controller, cashier, and a vice president at Second National Bank of Warren, whose parent, Second Bancorp, was bought by Sky Financial Group Inc. in July.
SOUTHEASTCitrus Bank of Vero Beach, Fla., has hired G. Richard Nisbeth as its chairman and chief executive officer.
Mr. Nisbeth was the president and managing director of Brisbane Capital LLC, a corporate finance firm in North Palm Beach. Before that he had been the CEO of Olive Corporate Finance LLC, an investment banking company in Indianapolis.
Citrus Bank has $176 million of assets and is owned by CIB Marine Bankshares Inc. of Pewaukee, Wis.
WESTFar East National Bank, a Los Angeles unit of Sinopac Holdings of Taipei, has hired Charles Ong as the head of its corporate banking group and an executive vice president.
Mr. Ong was the U.S. country head and a managing director for Development Bank of Singapore. He worked for 16 years at the unit of DBS Group Holdings Ltd.
Far East National has $1.7 billion of assets and primarily serves California's Asian-American community.
