HICKSVILLE, N.Y., — Flagstar Bank, N.A., the bank subsidiary of New York Community Bancorp, Inc., has appointed nine seasoned leaders to its leadership team. These additions further enhance the Company’s oversight of core businesses and client-focused operations, bringing a blend of financial, commercial, private banking, IT, credit, and regulatory pedigree to the organization.
Joseph Otting, Chairman, President, and CEO, commented on the new appointments, “Driving progress, growth, and long-term stakeholder value requires a vision and the right leadership team to execute against that plan. Welcoming these new senior leaders, who possess specialized and unique skill sets, underscores our commitment to excellence and the strategic transformation currently underway. Their collective wealth of experience will be instrumental in enhancing our focus on exceptional service, operational efficiency, and positioning the company for sustainable growth.”
Richard Raffetto, SEVP, President of Commercial and Private Banking joins Flagstar Bank with more than 30 years’ experience in the banking industry, and more than 20 years serving in executive leadership positions and building commercial, corporate, and private banking teams. From 2020 to 2024, Rich served as President and Director of City National Bank, the U.S. commercial and private banking subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada. He most recently led their commercial lines of business and products, including its leasing, treasury management, payments, and capital markets units.
Kris Gagnon, SEVP, Chief Credit Officer: Kris brings more than 35 years of banking leadership experience to the team having spent 30 years at Bank of America in various senior leadership roles, including as Enterprise Credit Risk Executive, Chief Risk Officer of the Global Corporate and Commercial Bank, and Chief Credit Officer for the Commercial Banking, Leasing and Global Treasury Services Division.
Adam Feit, EVP, and Head of Specialized Industries Banking and Capital Market possesses over 20 years of experience covering and advising clients, structuring and underwriting deals, and leading teams in global corporate and investment banking, capital markets, mid-cap banking, middle market banking and business banking. In this role, he will lead the client coverage and expansion efforts across industry verticals and capital markets products. Most recently, he served as Managing Director and Head of Specialized Industries at U.S. Bank (formerly MUFG Union Bank).
William Fitzgerald, EVP, Head of Workout-Commercial, has over 30 years of experience as a senior banking executive with expertise in commercial real estate, loan management, asset management, and financial restructuring and recovery. Most recently, he served as SVP, Head of Commercial Real Estate Resolution at First Citizens Bank, where he established and built the commercial real estate restructuring group to manage the non-owner-occupied classified real estate across the bank.
Don Howard, EVP, Director of Regulatory Governance, Risk & Controls, brings more than 30 years’ experience as a senior executive, consultant, regulator, and Board Member with experience in global risk management, credit, compliance, and strategy. Most recently he served as Managing Director, Compliance Global Transformation Lead at Citibank, where he led all Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) work focused on Governance, Risk and Compliance. Prior roles include Chief Compliance Officer at USAA, and Chief Risk Officer at S&P Global. Earlier in his career, he spent more than 15 years at Bank of America as Managing Director, Structured Credit Product, Portfolio Management.
Sydney Menefee, EVP, Senior Director, Strategic Financial & Capital Management has over 20 years of experience as an executive leader in the financial services industry with expertise in complex bank regulation, accounting, and financial reporting matters. In this role, Sydney will focus on the bank’s strategic, capital, and financial planning functions. Most recently, she was a partner at Crowe LLP, a public accounting, consulting, and technology firm.
Robert Phelps, EVP, Special Advisor to the CEO: He is a former OCC executive, where he held several senior leadership roles in bank supervision. In this role, Bob will support the continued enhancement of Flagstar’s IT capabilities working closely with existing IT leadership. During his 30-year tenure with the OCC, his roles included Chair of the National Risk Committee, Deputy Comptroller of Supervision Risk Management, and leading the creation of the Supervision System and Analytics Support Division. Bob provided oversight of the OCC’s supervisory data and systems upgrade. He also served as the OCC’s Director for Critical Infrastructure Policy, overseeing development of a cybersecurity supervisory policy and coordination with other financial regulators. Bob is a retired U.S. Navy Commander and served in several major operations. He supports the Naval Academy as a Blue and Gold Officer. He is also a certified coach, supporting leaders to achieve more professionally and personally.
Bryan Hubbard, SVP, Senior Regulatory Program Manager, brings more than 30 years of experience in providing strategic counsel to CEOs and senior federal officials focusing on media relations, regulatory affairs, policy, and reputation. At Flagstar, Bryan will focus on enhancing regulatory relationships, communication, and remediation efforts. Most recently, he served as the Deputy Comptroller for Public Affairs at the OCC where he led strategic communication and public affairs for the agency overseeing a $15 trillion federal banking system.
Tom Lyons, SVP, Director of Finance Business Risk & Controls, has 30 years of experience in finance, risk, IT, operations, compliance, and audit disciplines across industries. In this role, Tom will lead the Bank’s Finance Risk Management function, including data, operational, and financial exposures. Most recently, Tom served as U.S. Bank’s SVP of Operations’ Financial and Data Risks. Tom also held Finance Chief Risk Officer and Senior Risk Officer roles at U.S. Bank, having led its SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley) program for 14 years.