Scott Custer, former top executive at four sold North Carolina banks, has chosen to join a Wilmington bank rather than serve as a consultant and board member for a Pittsburgh bank.
Live Oak Bancshares Inc. said Monday it has hired Custer as president of its Live Oak Banking Co. subsidiary, effective immediately.
Custer, the former chief executive of Yadkin Financial Corp., worked just 11 days with F.N.B. Corp., the buyer of the Raleigh bank, before departing March 24. F.N.B. said Custer also resigned from its board of directors “in order to pursue other business opportunities.”
Custer also has been the chief executive of RBC Bank, Piedmont Community Bank Holdings Inc., and VantageSouth Bancshares Inc.
The hiring of Custer is part of a management change in which Neil Underwood remains as president of the parent company, but shifts its focus to the Live Oak Ventures technology development unit.
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Chip Mahan the bank’s chairman and CEO, is age 65, according to Friday’s shareholder proxy filing.
Mahan said in a statement that Custer’s hiring comes as Live Oak “expands into new industries, products and solutions to support its growing small-business customer base.”
“Scott brings world-class experience scaling complex banking organizations,” Mahan said.
“At a time where our rapid growth is taking us into new and exciting opportunities, we want to ensure that our core business remains rooted, and he will help us do that.”
Live Oak did not disclose Custer’s compensation. It has not submitted a regulatory filing on Custer’s hiring as on Monday morning.
Custer cited Live Oak’s growth potential and management team performance in his reasoning for joining the bank.
Live Oak had a 33.2 percent decline in net income, to $13.8 million, for fiscal 2016, caused primarily by a 48.8 percent in noninterest expenses to $106.4 million.
It had $1.75 billion in total assets as of Dec. 31, up 66.7 percent over the year.
F.N.B., based in Pittsburgh, completed its $1.4 billion purchase of Yadkin on March 13.
Custer was Yadkin’s lone representative on the F.N.B. board.
Custer would have been paid an annual board retainer fee of $55,000 and an annual stock award worth $40,000. He could have received $3,500 annually for serving on the nominating and governance committee, and $7,500 each for serving on the executive, audit, compensation and risk committees annually.
Custer also terminated the three-year consultant contract he received as part of the purchase. The bank said Custer was given a limited waiver to a noncompete clause in the contract.
The bank said Custer’s departure was “not as a result of any disagreement with F.N.B. on any matter relating to F.N.B.’s operations, accounting matters, policies or practices.”
Custer served as the chief executive and president of Yadkin since its $299 million purchase of VantageSouth Bancshares Inc. of Raleigh in July 2014, as well as serving on its board. He came to Yadkin from his role as chief executive of VantageSouth.
According to an Oct. 17 filing by Yadkin, Custer was scheduled to receive a golden parachute of $6.55 million: $2.8 million in cash, of which at least $600,000 is consulting pay, along with restricted stock valued at $1.52 million on Sept. 16, $2.11 million from the Yadkin pension and other retirement compensation, $22,275 in perks, and $106,019 in other compensation.