In 2022, Webster Financial Corp. and Sterling Bancorp wrapped up their merger, with the Webster brand remaining. For folks at both companies, the all-stock deal — valued at $5.1 billion when it was announced — was cause for celebration.
But once Webster executive Katherine (Katie) Lane celebrated the deal, she had plenty of work ahead of her. It was Lane's job to lead the integration of Webster Bank's and Sterling National Bank's SOX (Sarbanes Oxley) programs — an enormous undertaking at what now is a financial services company with more than $75 billion in assets.
The integration "created a uniform SOX program for the combined organization, and fostered a stronger understanding of financial risks and control requirements across the organization," said Lane, senior managing director, transformation lead and finance front lines control officer at Webster.
For the integration, she leaned on her more than three years of experience running SOX and internal audit programs at Farmington Bank, which the parent company of People's United Bank acquired in 2018 in a deal valued at $544 million.
Lane counts the SOX project as her biggest accomplishment at Webster, which she joined in 2018. But it's certainly not her sole accomplishment. Last year, for example, she redesigned Webster's financial control testing system. In updating the system, she pored over benchmark data from the banking industry, discussed SOX models with banking peers and chatted with professionals at providers of SOX testing support. She said the redesign project resulted in a more sustainable model for SOX testing and generated cost savings of roughly $1 million.
Lane also was a key driver of the design and implementation of controls for Webster's new accounting platform. She conducted research about controls for accounting platforms "and spoke to industry experts to ensure I provided effective guidance regarding control expectations, and I oversaw the team that supported finance as they evaluated future processes to ensure risk points were appropriately identified and mitigating controls were developed," Lane explained.
Additionally, Lane last year assumed oversight of Webster's compliance with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. The federal law, passed in 1999, requires financial institutions to protect the privacy and security of consumers' personal financial data. In that role, she has already revamped reconciliation processes and identified opportunities for automation. Lane also has helped modernize Webster's procurement, payables, general ledger, financial planning and tax systems.
Albert Wang, chief accounting officer at Webster, applauded Lane's work on SOX compliance, accounting controls and other issues at the bank.
"Katie plays a key role in Webster Bank's success, and her thoughtful leadership has helped establish a strong foundation for future innovation," said Wang. "From contributing to transformative initiatives that strengthen financial controls, streamline operations and drive efficiencies to fostering a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement, Katie consistently makes a meaningful impact."
Lane said collaboration and teamwork have been critical to the success of those "transformative" initiatives and "are two core values that drive my teams."
Speaking of being driven, Lane hopes to someday end up in the C-suite in a risk, controls or audit role.
Jaime Phillips, a principal at professional services firm PwC (where Lane worked from 2012 to 2015), praised Lane's leadership qualities — qualities that could help her gain a seat in the C-suite.
"Katie is the kind of leader who blends vision with action," said Phillips. "She is confident, practical and never afraid to step up. She makes a lasting impact on her workplace by raising the standards, encouraging her peers and inspiring everyone around her to do the same."
