Customers Bancorp, in an SEC 8-K filing on April 10, announced the termination of CFO and executive vice president Carla Leibold. Leibold, who was finance chief of the parent company, was notified of her termination from employment for “cause” under her employment agreement, with the filing citing “violating company policy,” making termination effective immediately.
While the bank did not disclose the reason for the termination, Leibold has disputed the bank’s characterization of her separation, the filing said.
Leibold, who had held her position since 2018, is succeeded by Philip Watkins. Since 2023, Watkins has been CFO of Customers Bank, the banking subsidiary of Customers Bancorp. Before joining Customers, Watkins was CFO for Megalith Financial Acquisition, a specialty purpose acquisition company (SPAC), which operated as a publicly traded investment vehicle for business combination.
A possible reason for disputing a termination for “cause” is because of the common nature of total compensation and supplemental executive retirement plans (SERP), which may be lost in such a course of events. According to Customers’ proxy circular from a year ago (Appendix A), the definition of “cause” can include:
- Criminal activity;
- Conduct that has resulted, or could reasonably be expected to result, in material injury to the business or reputation of the company;
- Material violation of the company policies, including misuse of confidential information;
- Acts of gross negligence or willful misconduct;
- Misappropriation of assets or business opportunities;
- Embezzlement or fraud;
- Willful neglect in performance of duties.
While the company has given no indication for the rationale behind the termination, and correlation does not prove causation, it is notable that Leibold sold 35,832 shares of the company on March 12 in an insider sale, which brought her sale of Customer shares to 77,451 over the past year, with zero share purchases in that same time, according to a report from GuruFocus Research.
Also of note, Customers Bank had previously under Watkins’ watch, acquired a $631 million venture-banking portfolio, and 30 bankers, via the FDIC from the failed Signature Bank last year.