Citizens Financial Group named Ted Swimmer head of commercial banking Tuesday, effective immediately.
Swimmer, who was most recently head of capital markets and advisory for the commercial bank, will succeed Don McCree, who held the role for 10 years. McCree will chair the bank’s commercial-banking arm until he retires in March 2026.
Swimmer joined the Rhode Island-based lender in 2010 after holding a variety of senior posts at Wachovia Securities, including leading its leveraged finance activities. He was named to Citizens’ executive committee in 2018.
“Working closely with Don, Ted has built a strong Capital Markets and Advisory business that provides clients with excellent ideas, advice and solutions,” Citizens CEO Bruce Van Saun said in a prepared statement.
“He is a highly capable leader who has attracted great talent to Citizens,” Van Saun said of Swimmer. “I look forward to working closely with him as we continue to grow the Commercial Bank and take it to an even higher level.”
McCree’s 10 years at Citizens were preceded by 31 at JPMorgan Chase, in roles including co-head of corporate and investment banking and CEO of global treasury services.
Van Saun credited McCree with building “one of the best-positioned” commercial banks: “one with the scale to compete with larger institutions while also delivering personalized advice, solutions and service to clients at every stage of their business life cycle.”
In July, McCree said the bank had the largest M&A pipeline it’s ever had, with several transactions “straddling the second and third quarter” in terms of deal closure.
It’s “immune to some of the bigger challenges” because it’s handling smaller, middle-market transactions, which “tend to get less attention, so there’s a little more certainty there,” he said at the time.
