Scott Case will rejoin SunTrust after having left the bank in October to become chief information officer at a health care information management company. He will replace Anil Cheriyan, who is retiring.
The elimination of a key deduction that had worked as a cap on CEO salaries, combined with investor pressure to maintain performance incentives, could lead to an upward drift in compensation for top executives of many banks.
SunTrust sold an insurance financing unit that it deemed noncore, but it is on the lookout to buy more complementary businesses such as a CRE lender it acquired last year.
SunTrust’s yields have improved as it has increased its credit-card and student lending and made more online personal loans through its LightStream subsidiary.
Even with card defaults ticking up slightly, regional banks remain committed to pursuing more credit card business as they look to both diversify their balance sheets and deepen relationships with customers.