Four Community Bankers Elected to the Board
of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York
Contact: Eric Amig - 212 441-6807 |
November 20 , 2003 |
New York, New York – Kenneth J. Abt, President, CEO and Vice Chairman of First Federal Savings of Middletown, Middletown, New York; Sanford A. Belden, President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Bank, N.A., DeWitt, New York; José R. González, President and Chief Executive Officer of Banco Santander de Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Katherine J. Liseno, President and Chief Executive Officer of Metuchen Savings Bank, Metuchen, New Jersey, have been elected to the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York. Each director will serve a three–year term that will begin January 1, 2004.
The New York Federal Home Loan Bank’s Board of Directors is comprised of 17 members: six are appointed to three–year terms as public interest and community interest directors by the Federal Housing Finance Board, and 11 industry directors are elected to three-year terms by the Bank’s financial-institution stockholders.
Mr. Abt was re-elected to the Board; he has served on the Board since January 1998. Mr. Belden, Mr. González, and Ms. Liseno are newly elected members to the Board. Mr. Belden will succeed the late William E. Swan, Chairman, President and CEO of First Niagara Bank, Lockport, New York, who had served on the Board from February 2002 until August 2003. Mr. González will succeed Salomón Levis, Chairman and CEO of Doral Bank, San Juan, Puerto Rico, who has served on the Board since January 2001. Ms. Liseno will succeed John R. Garbarino, Chairman, President and CEO of OceanFirst Bank, Toms River, New Jersey, who has served on the Board since January 1996. Mr. Abt, Mr. Belden, Mr. González, and Ms. Liseno were elected to the Board to fill industry director slots.
Kenneth J. Abt is currently President, Chief Executive Officer and Vice Chairman of First Federal Savings of Middletown, Middletown, New York. He joined the staff of First Federal in 1964 and became President in 1973. Mr. Abt has served as chair of the New York League of Savings Institutions, chair of First Monetary Mutual Limited, vice chair of the Federal Savings and Loan Advisory Council, and director of The Center for Financial Studies at Fairfield University. He is currently a director of the Community Bankers Association of New York, the College Council at SUNY New Paltz, and Smiley Bros, Inc. (Mohonk Mountain House). First Federal is a banking institution with assets of $185 million, with offices in Orange County, New York.
Sanford A. Belden has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Community Bank System, Inc. and its principal banking subsidiary, Community Bank, N.A., as well as its financial services subsidiaries, all headquartered in DeWitt, New York, since October 1, 1992. Mr. Belden was Senior Vice President of Rabobank Nederland, New York, New York, from 1990 to 1992 and prior thereto served as President, Community Banking, at U.S. Bancorp, Minneapolis, Minnesota, a multi-state bank holding company. Upon completion of the acquisition of Grange National Banc Corp. (announced June 9, 2003), Community Bank System will have over $3.7 billion in assets, and its wholly-owned banking subsidiary, Community Bank, N.A., will become the second-largest community banking franchise headquartered in Upstate New York, having 129 customer facilities and 94 ATMs stretching diagonally from Northern New York to the Southern Tier, and west to Lake Erie, and in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Among many other affiliations, Mr. Belden serves on the Boards of the New York Bankers Association and the Independent Bankers Association of New York State.
José R. González has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Santander BanCorp and Banco Santander Puerto Rico since October of 2002, and Country Head for Santander Group in Puerto Rico. He joined the Santander Central Hispano Group in August 1996 as President and Chief Executive Officer of Santander Securities Corporation. Before coming to Santander, he served as President and General Manager of Credit Suisse First Boston Puerto Rico, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Government Development Bank for Puerto Rico and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Puerto Rico Telephone Company. Mr. González is a Trustee of the University of Puerto Rico and head of its Finance Committee. He is also the President of the Puerto Rico Bankers Association. Banco Santander Puerto Rico is a $7.1 billion institution with 66 branches.
Katherine J. Liseno began her career at the Metuchen Savings Bank as a file clerk in 1962 and rose through the management ranks to become President and Chief Executive Officer in 1979, a title she currently holds. Among many other affiliations, Ms. Liseno was chairperson of the New Jersey League of Community Bankers during 2001-2002 and is a member of the Board of Governors of the New Jersey League from 1998 to the present. The Metuchen Savings Bank is a $277 million institution serving Middlesex County since 1897.
The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York is a Congressionally chartered, $85 billion, wholesale Bank. It is part of the Federal Home Loan Bank System, a national wholesale banking network of 12 regional, stockholder-owned banks. The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York serves over 300 community lenders in New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The mission of the Home Loan Bank is to advance housing opportunity and local community development by maximizing the capacity of community-based member-lenders to serve their markets.