The Latest from Women in Banking

Citigroup has appointed Ellen Costello, former BMO Financial chief executive, and Intel President Renee James to its board.

WASHINGTON — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said Wednesday that it has hired Mary McLeod to become the agency's new general counsel starting next year.

Investors Bancorp in Short Hills, N.J., has hired a former Capital One Financial executive to head its enterprise risk management team.

Opus Bank in Irvine, Calif., has created a formal division for lending to municipal governments and has promoted executive Debbie McLeod to lead the venture.

The $467 million-asset mutual thrift appointed Patricia Stetler to the role this week.

The $5.6 billion-asset multibank holding company hired Fontaine to replace Ed Hooks, who has been its counsel since 1992 and who will retire at the end of the year.

JPMorgan Chase's Eileen Serra is giving up her CEO title (for a very interesting reason); CIT Group's Ellen Alemany is getting to work sooner than expected with a big housecleaning; and Meredith Whitney resurfaces with an insurance company. Plus, inclusion confusion, the "Person of the Year" (it's a woman for the first time in 29 years), and Saudi Arabia.

Eileen Serra, 61, the chief executive of the Chase Card Services unit, will step down in January and become an adviser to the company on growth initiatives, according to a memo Wednesday from Gordon Smith, JPMorgan's CEO of consumer and community banking.

Eileen Serra is stepping down as chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase's credit-card business and will be replaced by Kevin Watters, who is currently head of mortgage banking.

CIT Group will pay about $60 million in severance to 14 executives who have been dismissed or left the company, as it continues to shuffle its executive lineup following its August acquisition of OneWest Bank.