William J. Hespe, Jr., Chairman–Board of Directors
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Mr. Hespe joined AIG in June 2006 as Vice President, Head of Operational Risk for AIG’s Financial Services and Asset Management Divisions. In September 2006, he was elected to the AIG Bank Board of Directors and was appointed as the Chairman of the Board. In his role as Head of Operational Risk for AIG’s Financial Services and Asset Management Divisions he is responsible for establishing operational risk functions and leading the division’s Sarbanes-Oxley program. In addition, he actively participates in a variety of senior management activities designed to enhance corporate governance and control practices throughout the Financial Services Division.
Mr. Hespe has over 20 years of experience in financial services, operational risk, and bank regulation. Prior to his employment with AIG, Mr. Hespe was with Barclays Capital from 2001 until 2006. During his tenure with Barclays, he served as Director, Regional Head of Operational Risk Management.
Prior to his affiliation with Barclays Capital, Mr. Hespe worked at Arthur Andersen, where he was an experienced manager of the firm’s Bank Regulatory Risk Services Group. In addition, he led and participated in examinations of community, foreign, regional and money center banks as a Bank Examiner for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and also held the position of Thrift Examiner for the Office of Thrift Supervision, performing in-house examinations, reporting quality assurance and technical expertise.
Mr. Hespe graduated from the New York University with a Master’s in Economics and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in History from Franklin and Marshall College.
Robert W. Pierce, President & CEO, Member–Board of Directors
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Mr. Pierce joined AIG in January 1999, and has served as President & Chief Executive Officer and a Board Member of AIG Bank since the bank was chartered in May 2000.
Prior to his employment with AIG Bank, Mr. Pierce was with Beneficial Corporation from 1982 until 1998. During his tenure with Beneficial’s banking subsidiary, Beneficial National Bank, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer, a position he held from 1991 to 1998; Executive Vice President, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and Vice President, Controller. He served on the Board of Directors of other Beneficial Corporation subsidiaries, including Beneficial National Bank USA, Beneficial Savings Bank and WESCO Insurance, and also held management positions with Beneficial Commercial Corporation and Beneficial Mortgage Corporation.
Prior to his affiliation with Beneficial, Mr. Pierce was employed by the public accounting firm, Main Hurdman (Peat Marwick), from 1978-1982.
Mr. Pierce serves on the Board of Directors of the Wilmington Renaissance Corporation and the Delaware Financial Literacy Institute, and is a member of the Finance Committee of the Delaware Community Foundation.
Mr. Pierce graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business with a BS in Economics, and he is a CPA.
Howard S. Stein, Member–Board of Directors
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Mr. Stein joined the AIG Bank Board of Directors in July 2008. Throughout his career, Mr. Stein has actively managed risk for both the domestic and global markets in the corporate and consumer banking sectors.
In addition to his role on the AIG Bank Board of Directors, Mr. Stein is a Senior Risk Advisor to Fortent, a company providing legal/regulatory compliance solutions to financial institutions and is Chair of the Advisory Committee at Risk Business, an operational risk consultancy. Through the Financial Services Volunteer Corps, where he serves on the Risk Management Committee, he has been active in teaching operational risk and Basel II regulatory requirements in Russia, Morocco and Albania under sponsorship of those countries’ central banks and bank associations.
Mr. Stein served in various risk management and business management capacities during his 26 year tenure at Citigroup. His most recent position was Managing Director of Operational Risk for Citigroup’s Global Corporate and Investment Bank. He was previously Chief Risk Officer for the Global Transaction Services business and earlier, for the Bankcards business. At Citigroup he was a Senior Credit Officer and a Senior Payments Systems Risk Officer. He was one of two Citibank representatives, through various industry committees such as the International Institute of Finance, to the Basel Committee’s operational risk development and implementation committees.
Mr. Stein was the founding Chairman of the Risk Management Association’s Operational Risk Council and was a member of the RMA’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee.
Prior to his employment at Citigroup, Mr. Stein worked in the Treasurer’s Office of General Motors Corporation and for the New York City government, where he was First Deputy Administrator of the Human Resources Administration.
He is a member of the Board and Treasurer of WNYC, New York’s public radio stations; Pratt Institute, a college with degrees in architecture, design and library science; Goddard Riverside Community Center, a multi-service community center; and Children’s Cause for Cancer Advocacy, an organization working in the area of pediatric cancer.
Mr. Stein holds a MBA from the Harvard Business School and a BA in Economics from the University of Michigan.
Mark Stellini, Member–Board of Directors
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Mr. Stellini joined the AIG Bank Board of Directors in May 2000.
Mr. Stellini joined his family business, Info Systems, in 1981. The business needed a new vision in the rapidly changing marketplace which Mr. Stellini was well equipped to provide. Info Systems followed the growth of the industry, rocketing from a few million dollars worth of revenue in hardware and software to a $60 million dollar market mix of technology consulting services and strategic IT products.
Mr. Stellini’s entrepreneurial success has been recognized by the industry and the Delaware business community many times over. During his career, he has received the following recognition and awards: Delaware Valley Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young, Inc. Magazine; Eastern Technology Council Enterprise Award for CEO Under 40; U.S. SBA’s Delaware Small Business Person of the Year; New Castle County Small Business Person of the Year; Delaware SBA Entrepreneurial Success Award; LAN Magazine LAN 100 Award 1993-2003; IBM’s “Shooting Star” Award for Excellence in Customer Satisfaction Nationwide; Compaq Customer Satisfaction Award for Outstanding Customer Service; Intelligent Electronics Paragon Award for Excellence & Performance; Inacom Circle of Excellence Award; Better Business Bureau Regional Torch Award-Business Ethics; Junior Achievement Bronze National Leadership Award; 2004 Small Business Administration District Director’s Choice Award; Citrix Systems 2004 Best Business Case Solution.
In addition to his role on the AIG Bank Board of Directors, Mr. Stellini has also served as the President of the Hewlett Packard Executive Advisory Board and on the Boards of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Junior Achievement of DE, and the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce.
Thomas J. Wageman, Member–Board of Directors
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Mr. Wageman joined the AIG Bank Board of Directors in October 2007 and chairs the Audit Committee and Trust Audit Committee.
Mr. Wageman has more than 40 years of experience in managing and directing the affairs of financial services companies, encompassing all commercial and consumer lines of business. For more than 25 years, he was the CEO and a Director of those companies.
Prior to joining the AIG Bank Board of Directors, Mr. Wageman was actively involved in a variety of large scale projects, including completing the liquidation of what had been the largest mortgage company in America, as Trustee (CEO) of the Creditors Trust. Later, he joined the Board of a mortgage company as it was divested from its parent company and came public. In this role, he served on the Audit and Compensation Committees and chaired the Nominating and Governance Committee, until the company was acquired by a major investment bank in December 2006.
Mr. Wageman is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business.