Kabat Adds Vice Chairman Title at Fifth Third

Fifth Third has shuffled the titles for two of its top executives, including Kevin Kabat, the company's chief executive.

Fifth Third said Friday that Kabat, who became the CEO in 2007, would also become the $118 billion-asset company's vice chairman. The company also said the Greg Carmichael, who has been its chief operating officer since 2006, will also become its president, taking over a title that had belonged to Kabat.

The company made it clear in a press release that the moves were more about Carmichael's rising status rather than a rebuke of Kabat's leadership. "The board has the utmost confidence in Kevin and in his ability to lead our company now and in the future," William Isaac, the company's chairman and a former chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said in the release. "This new title reflects that confidence."

Carmichael's promotion "recognizes his outstanding performance the past several years in driving company performance," Kabat said in the release.

As part of the moves, Carmichael will take over oversight of Fifth Third's national commercial business, Kabat said. Carmichael already managed a wide range of business lines, including its mortgage, business banking and consumer finance operations. Before he joined the bank, Carmichael was an information technology executive at Emerson Electric.