Wilmington Trust nabs new head of credit-risk unit

Robert P. Gehring, a 39-year veteran of the commercial banking industry, has taken over as head of the credit risk unit at Wilmington Trust Corp.
Company spokesman William Benintende said Mr. Gehring took over his new position six weeks ago. He declined to identify the executive Mr. Gehring replaced, saying only that that executive left Wilmington in March to “pursue another position.”
Wilmington, which reported a wider-than-expected $1.33 per-share loss last quarter due to bad loans, is reportedly close to hiring a new chief risk officer, according to a client note released today by Mac Hodgson, an analyst at SunTrust Robinson Humphrey Inc.
In the note, he pointed out that Carver Bancorp Inc. announced recently that one of its directors — Carol Baldwin Moody, who is chief compliance officer at Nationwide Insurance — had resigned from the board to avoid any potential conflicts of interest after accepting a “senior executive position” at Wilmington.
Mr. Benintende said he could not confirm that Ms. Moody will be joining Wilmington, but said the firm will make an announcement about a chief risk officer soon.
Mr. Hodgson views both of Wilmington’s hires favorably. “We feel both of these moves are positive for the company as it tries to manage and reduce the risk within its loan book,” he wrote.
In his new position at Wilmington, Mr. Gehring is responsible for the internal risk rating process and oversight of the reserve for loan losses, which totaled $374 million in the second quarter, an increase of $74 million from the first quarter.
Mr. Gehring manages a team of 26 credit reviewers and analysts, who have been reassessing Wilmington’s loans and writing many of them off. The firm took a major hit by having too much exposure to commercial real estate in southern Delaware.
Mr. Gehring reports to the audit committee, Mr. Benintende said.
“Bob’s hiring is one example of the resources we are devoting to reducing risk in our loan portfolio,” Donald E. Foley, Wilmington’s chairman and chief executive, who abruptly replaced former chief executive Ted Cecala in June, said in a statement. “We expect to benefit greatly from Bob’s knowledge of our lending market.”
Mr. Gehring spent 30 years working at banks in the mid-Atlantic region, including Wachovia Corp., Wilmington Savings Fund Society and Commonwealth Bank, according to the company statement. Most recently, Mr. Gehring had responsibilities for risk management at financial companies in Florida, including Peninsula Bank, which failed in June. (Mr. Gehring had been brought in to review and revamp everything related to Peninsula’s credit in late 2009.)
“Wilmington Trust has made significant progress in managing credit risk over the past year, and I look forward to working with the team to help ensure that we are assessing and evaluating our loans in an accurate and timely manner,” Mr. Gehring said.