Tennessee bank shuffles management after chief's retirement

Franklin Financial Network in Franklin, Tenn., is looking for its next CEO.

The $4.2 billion-asset company said in a press release Friday that Richard Herrington retired as president, CEO and chairman March 8. Herrington, who was 70 when Franklin filed its last proxy statement, will remain with the company for six months to help with the leadership transition.

Kevin Herrington, Richard Herrington’s son, resigned as Franklin’s chief operating officer. He also plans to stay with Franklin through September to assist with the transition.

J. Myers Jones III was named interim CEO, while Terry Howell became the company’s interim chief operating officer. Myers is Franklin’s chief credit officer. Howell is the corporate risk officer.

Franklin said it will conduct an executive search to fill the posts permanently.

Lee Moss, president of Franklin’s bank, was named interim president of the company. James Cross IV, a Franklin director since 2009, succeeded the elder Herrington as chairman.

“I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of the Franklin Synergy team during my time as CEO,” Richard Herrington said in the release. “When I helped found this bank more than 11 years ago, I could not have imagined the success we’ve achieved as a top bank in our market.”

“We would like to thank Richard for his dedication to our company, customers and communities,” Cross said. “Under Richard’s leadership we have grown from a de novo bank in 2007 to a publicly traded bank with leading market share in our primary markets.”

Richard Herrington had been Franklin’s leader since its creation in 2007.

The company went public in 2015. A year later, regulators sent it a memorandum of understanding tied to its concentration of commercial real estate loans.

The memorandum forced Franklin on several occasions to delay its purchase of Civic Bank & Trust in Nashville, Tenn. The Civic deal closed last year, while the memorandum was lifted in January.

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