NEW YORK - Two top executives from an African-American-owned bank in Boston have finally won seats on the board of Carver Bancorp.
Carver said Monday that it has agreed to appoint Kevin Cohee and his wife, Teri Williams, to its board. Mr. Cohee is chairman and chief executive officer at $138 million-asset Boston Bank of Commerce, and Ms. Williams is senior vice president.
In exchange BBC Capital Markets - a subsidiary of Boston Bank of Commerce that owns a 7.4% stake in Carver - has agreed to drop a lawsuit against Carver and two large shareholders.
The two sides had been at odds since Boston Bank of Commerce made a bid last year to acquire Carver, the nation's largest African-American-owned thrift, with $470 million of assets. The offer was ultimately rejected, but Mr. Cohee and Ms. Williams later nominated themselves to the thrift's board.
Shareholders initially voted against Mr. Cohee and Ms. Williams and elected Carver's nominees - former New York Mayor David Dinkins and shareholder David Jones - by a narrow margin. A Delaware court ruled in April, however, that 86,000 votes in favor of Mr. Dinkins and Mr. Jones were invalid, paving the way for the appointments of Mr. Cohee and Ms. Williams.
