PITTSBURGH — PNC Financial Services Group Inc. on Tuesday appointed Joseph J. Whiteside, the former chief executive officer of Homeside Lending Inc., as a vice chairman of the Pittsburgh-banking company.
Mr. Whiteside, 61, joined the company Tuesday, but his appointment remains subject to regulatory approval. He reports to James E. Rohr, PNC’s chairman and chief executive officer.
The position is a new one at the troubled Pittsburgh banking company, and Mr. Whiteside will have responsibility for insurance, the company’s equity management businesses, and special corporate projects.
PNC has been under regulatory supervision since July after it reached an agreement with regulators over its accounting treatment of three special-purpose vehicles.
Several senior executives have left as the company tries to shore up its management team, though PNC’s board has thrown its support behind Mr. Rohr. Though some on Wall Street have wondered how long Mr. Rohr will hold the top job at PNC, Gerard Cassidy, an analyst with RBC Capital, a Royal Bank of Canada unit, said Tuesday that Mr. Whiteside’s appointment is not a threat to Mr. Rohr. “I’d be surprised” if he was brought in to replace Mr. Rohr, Mr. Cassidy said.
Mr. Whiteside became CEO of Homeside in September 2001, when that company was having its own problems. That same month, the company unveiled $1.75 billion in writedowns. Its Australian parent, National Australia Bank, has shed parts of the deteriorating Jacksonville, Fla.-based company, most recently signing a deal to sell the asset servicing business to Washington Mutual Inc. after Homeside took big writedowns in that portfolio.
In March, Wamu bought a majority of National Australia’s U.S. mortgage unit.
