- Key takeaway: Investors and analysts appear to be enthused by BCB Bancorp's decision to hire veteran turnaround specialist Thomas O'Brien as president and CEO.
- Supporting data: O'Brien has engineered the sale of five community banks for a cumulative $1.55 billion over the course of his five-decade banking career.
- Expert quote: "There's a temptation among a lot of bankers to chase loan growth. … At least in my experience, that tends to be a little undisciplined." —Thomas O'Brien
Thomas O'Brien, who has built a reputation for
The $3.3 billion-asset BCB, holding company for BCB Community Bank, marks the sixth stint as a bank CEO for the 75-year-old O'Brien.
O'Brien's most recent job was at Sterling Bancorp in Southfield, Michigan, where he served as president and CEO from 2020 until
BCB parted ways with Michael Shriner, O'Brien's predecessor, on May 21.
BCB's net income for the quarter ended March 31 totaled $4.9 million. In 2025, however, BCB reported a $12.5 million loss due in large part to charge-offs connected to a cannabis-related real estate loan and the bank's small-business lending portfolio. In all, BCB charged off $43.1 million in 2025, up from $10.4 million in 2024.
Monday, on a conference call with analysts, O'Brien promised to quickly confront BCB's credit-quality issues and "ring-fence" problem loans.
"The bank had previously drifted into a few lending categories where the risk-adjusted returns and credit losses have created some volatility and market weariness," O'Brien said.
"It's what I call risk acceptance," O'Brien told American Banker in a follow-up interview. "There's a temptation among a lot of bankers to chase loan growth. … At least in my experience, that tends to be a little undisciplined."
BCB's credit-quality challenges were a key factor behind the board's decision to change CEOs, according to Chairman Mark Hogan.
"While much has been accomplished to date, we feel the need to accelerate our efforts," Hogan said Monday in a press release. "When we learned of Tom's availability, the board found common ground with its needs and his experience."
Operational difficulties are nothing new for O'Brien. In 2023, Sterling
Sun Bancorp in Vineland, New Jersey, which O'Brien led from 2014 until its
Its credit woes notwithstanding, BCB does have some strengths, according to O'Brien. It's absent any legal or compliance problems and its deposit and market footprint, including 27 branches in Northern New Jersey and Long Island, are solid, he said.
"Like most of the banks I've been at, it's a good bank that kind of lost its way," O'Brien told American Banker.
O'Brien said on the conference call that he would likely spend about 90 days "getting as much knowledge and perspective as I may," before announcing his first batch of strategic decisions.
"You should expect to hear from me more formally and comprehensively, probably about the time of the third-quarter earnings call," O'Brien added.
O'Brien negotiated the sales of each of the five previous banks he led, resulting in proceeds totaling $1.55 billion. That record appears to have resonated with investors. BCB's stock was trading up nearly 10% Monday afternoon at $11.44 per share.
"Investors are clearly enthused by the new leadership," Brean Capital analyst Christopher Marinac wrote Monday in a research note.
Marinac predicted increases in tangible book value and share price for BCB throughout the remainder of 2026 and into 2027.
