CIT Shakes Up Board
NEW YORK (
) --
CIT Group
(CIT) - Get Report
announced several changes to its Board of Directors Tuesday as the reorganized lender prepares for CEO Jeffrey Peek to step down at the end of this week.
CIT, which emerged from a lightning-fast bankruptcy last month, added three well-known financial services industry names to its board, while announcing the resignation of two sitting directors. CIT is trying to shift its funding model to rely more on bank deposits and less on offering debt through the public markets.
The new directors are Gerald Rosenfeld, 63, a longtime investment banker who led
Rothschild North America
for eight years. He still serves as Deputy Chairman at the firm. Rosenfeld also served stints at what is now
Lazard
(LAZ) - Get Report
,
Salomon Brothers
, which later became part of
Citigroup
(C) - Get Report
and
Bankers Trust
, now a part of
Deutsche Bank
(DB) - Get Report
. Rosenfeld has also taught at several universities and served as a McKinsey consultant.
Also joining CIT's board is Anthony Terracciano, 71, chairman of student lender
SLM Corp.
(SLM) - Get Report
, better known as Sallie Mae, and a longtime banking industry executive. Terracciano previously served as Chairman of the Board of
Riggs Corp
, which was sold to
PNC Financial
(PNC) - Get Report
and
Dime Bancorp
which was sold to
Washington Mutual
(WAMUQ.PK).
The third new director is Laura Unger, 49, a former Senate staffer and Republican commissioner to the
Securities and Exchange Commission
. Unger has also worked for
CNBC
, and served as a consultant
JPMorgan Chase
(JPM) - Get Report
.
Stepping down are former Congressman Chris Shays, and Lois Van Deusen, a real estate attorney at
McCarter & English
, where she was formerly managing partner of the firm.
CIT's stock, which has risen more than 25% since it emerged from bankruptcy Dec. 10, was down slightly in early trading Tuesday.
--
Written by Dan Freed in New York
.









