Philadelphia, PA (March 13, 2017) —
The
Risk Management Association (RMA) today announced that President and CEO
William F. Githens, 69, informed the Board of Directors of his plans to retire
after 20 years of service with the Association. Helga Houston, Board Chair,
announced that a search for his successor will commence shortly and that
Githens will remain CEO through December 2017.
Houston
said that the Board of Directors has formed a committee to undertake a search.
"Bill
Githens has had an extraordinarily distinguished career, working tirelessly on
behalf of RMA’s members and the financial services industry. Throughout his
tenure, Bill has been the face of RMA to its members, chapters, and the
industry in general, as well as the industry regulators. He has shaped the
Association’s strategic plan and led strategic execution to ensure that as the
industry changed, the Association remained relevant to its members," said
Houston.
Under
his leadership, RMA has become widely known as the premier risk management
association for financial institutions, with recognizable expertise and a
leadership position in risk disciplines across the financial services industry
spectrum, namely enterprise risk, credit risk, operational risk, regulatory
affairs, and market risk.
Starting
his career in banking at First Pennsylvania Bank, Githens was employed for more
than 28 years in various leadership roles in financial services. He was
President and CEO of SynapQuest Inc., a subsidiary of CoreStates Financial
Corporation, and managed various credit and noncredit functions in CoreStates
for six years and in its predecessor institution, First Pennsylvania Bank, for
22 years.
Githens
became the eighth CEO in RMA’s 103-year history on January 26, 2010. He joined
RMA in 1997. Prior to his appointment as President and CEO, he was responsible
for establishing and organizing the Member Relations functions to serve all of
RMA’s members globally, including community banks, mid-tier banks, large banks,
global banks, and the 120-chapter network.
Houston
noted that Githens has been at the helm during one of the most demanding and
turbulent times in the financial services industry. "Not only did Bill’s
unwavering stewardship steer the Association and its members through continual
development of valuable products and services while adjusting to the
ever-changing industry landscape, but he also spearheaded initiatives to
attract young talent to the industry," Houston said. "He led a new
academic program for RMA to partner with universities to provide materials for
their banking curricula as well as the launching of a new Foundation that
provides scholarships and training activities to support the Association's goal
of advancing sound risk management principles in the financial services
industry—now and for years to come." The Risk Management Association
Foundation provides selected business school students with scholarships, RMA
membership and—through RMA member institutions—mentoring and internship
programs.
At
the time of the Foundation's launch Githens said, "The need to secure
well-trained talent for risk management both now and in the future is one of
the top issues facing the industry."
About RMA
The
Risk Management Association is a not-for-profit, member-driven professional
association whose sole purpose is to advance the use of sound risk management
principles in the financial services industry. RMA promotes an enterprise
approach to risk management that focuses on credit risk, market risk, and
operational risk. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, RMA has 2,500
institutional members that include banks of all sizes as well as nonbank
financial institutions. They are represented in the Association by more than 18,000
risk management professionals who are chapter members in financial centers
throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia/Pacific.
Media Contacts
Stephen
Krasowski, skrasowski@rmahq.org,
215-446-4095
Frank Devlin, fdevlin@rmahq.org,
215-446-4137