Dive Brief:
- Eagle Bancorp Chair Susan Riel will retire in 2026, the Bethesda, Maryland-based lender announced Monday.
- The bank holding company’s board elected Jim Soltesz, previously its lead independent director, as chair.
- Riel will remain on the board and in the CEO role at EagleBank during the search for her successor – for which the bank has engaged an executive search firm, the lender said.
Dive Insight:
The upcoming executive transition comes as $10.8 billion-asset EagleBank looks to extricate itself from what Riel, in a quarterly earnings release last month, called “asset quality challenges.”
The bank leans heavily into commercial real estate and commercial and industrial portfolios – which have seen downturns in general amid the COVID-19 pandemic and CRE confidence crisis of 2023.
Eagle reported a $67.5 million loss in the third quarter, after disclosing a $69.8 million downturn in the previous three-month span.
"The credit costs recognized this quarter reflect our commitment to managing credit risk with discipline and accountability,” Riel said in a statement last month. “The core franchise remains sound and resilient. Our capital, liquidity and customer relationships continue to provide a strong foundation as we move through this cycle and toward a more normalized earnings environment.”
The bank conducted an independent credit review last quarter that encompassed 85% of its CRE and C&I portfolios, it said. Roughly 88% of its loans were identified as performing in the third quarter; that’s up from 69% nine months earlier.
“Ideally, the large majority of office pain has now been taken,” Piper Sandler analysts wrote in an Oct. 26 note seen by Banking Dive.
But issues at the bank have proliferated for years. EagleBank agreed in 2022 to pay a $22.9 million penalty to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Reserve to settle claims the bank’s former CEO, Ron Paul – not to be confused with the former congressman – engaged in insider lending.
The settlement marked the end of a three-year probe of EagleBank by the regulators into alleged third-party lending and improper disclosures. The bank disclosed the investigation to shareholders in 2019. Paul retired earlier that year, citing health concerns. He was permanently banned from working in the banking industry and fined $521,000 to settle the allegations.
Eagle has been working to put that chapter behind it.
“It has been a privilege to lead Eagle over the last seven years, and to work alongside such a talented and dedicated team,” Riel said in a statement Monday. “Together, we have built one of the region’s premier community banks, known for our superior, personalized service to our customers and our unwavering commitment to our communities. I am confident that Eagle is well positioned for continued success, and I look forward to leading Eagle until my successor is identified and in place.”
In addition to putting Soltesz in a leadership role, Eagle’s board named Pete Mathews Jr., a longtime M&T Bank executive, as its vice chair. Mathews joined Eagle’s board last year, after having retired from M&T in 2022 as senior deputy credit officer for teams in commercial lending and CRE.
Eagle counts 12 banking offices in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., as well as four lending offices.
“During this succession process, the Eagle team will remain focused on the proactive steps we have initiated to reposition Eagle for sustainable profitability and long-term growth,” Soltesz said. “The Board looks forward to working with Susan to ensure a seamless transition and to building on the foundation Susan has established. We wish her the very best in retirement.”
