Fifth Third makes another top leadership announcement

Ohio’s largest bank has hired a new top executive as it prepares for a change in leadership when Chief Executive Officer Kevin Kabat retires next year.

Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bancorp announced Thursday that Lars Anderson will become executive vice president and chief operating officer, joining the company on Aug. 3. Anderson will succeed Greg Carmichael, currently Fifth Third’s president and COO, until Carmichael’s promotion to CEO and president effective Nov. 1.

Anderson will report to Carmichael.

Fifth Third announced July 8 that its CEO during the recession, Kabat, 58, will retire next year. Kabat, also executive vice chairman of the board, will transition leadership responsibilities during the coming months.

Anderson joins Fifth Third from Comerica, where he was vice chairman of the Business Bank, a member of the Management Executive Committee, and chair of that bank’s executive credit committee. He has more than 30 years of banking industry experience, according to Fifth Third.

In his role as chief operating officer, Anderson’s responsibilities will include leading the commercial and investment advisor lines of business and enterprise-wide marketing and customer experience. He will also have oversight of all 15 of Fifth Third’s affiliates, according to the company.

Fifth Third Bancorp’s assets totaled $140 billion as of the end of March and it operates 1,303 full-service bank branches across 12 states. It is Ohio’s largest bank by deposits of more than $39.8 billion, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

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