Stephen H. Gordon, Former Founding Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, And President Of Opus Bank, Announces Founding Executive Management Team And Receipt Of Regulatory Approval To Form Genesis Bank (In Organization)

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif., Feb. 2, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Stephen H. Gordon, Managing Member of Gordon Ventures, LLC, and former Founding Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of Opus Bank, which was acquired on June 1, 2020 by Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc., announced today the founding executive management team and the receipt of regulatory approval to organize and establish Genesis Bank (In Organization) from the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (the "DFPI") on November 4, 2020, and from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the "FDIC") on January 29, 2021, subject to conditions relating to the establishment of de novo banks. The application to form Genesis Bank (In Organization) was filed with the DFPI and FDIC on June 5, 2020.

Genesis Bank (In Organization), which will be a California state-chartered commercial bank, will be led by Stephen H. Gordon, Founding Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Gordon has over 35 years of financial industry experience, including serving as Founding Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of Opus Bank; Founding Chairman and CEO of Commercial Capital Bank and its savings and loan holding company, Commercial Capital Bancorp, Inc; as well as Chairman and CEO of Fremont Investment and Loan and its holding company, Fremont General Corporation. Additionally, Mr. Gordon served as a Partner at Sandler O'Neill + Partners, L.P., a New York based investment banking firm.

Mr. Gordon stated, "I'm proud to announce the executive management team for Genesis Bank (In Organization). Each member of our team brings unique, highly relevant, and extensive skills and experience necessary in their respective roles and responsibilities in creating and building this new bank."

• Jennifer Simmons – President and Chief Operating Officer, will be responsible for overseeing the operations, day-to-day administration, and business development processes. Ms. Simmons is a 27-year banking veteran, having most recently served as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of Opus Bank. Prior to joining Opus Bank, Ms. Simmons held senior leadership positions at Union Bank, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.
• Brian Fitzmaurice – EVP, Senior Chief Credit Officer, will be responsible for the overall credit quality of the loan portfolio, administrative and operational matters pertaining to lending, and loan servicing and processing. Mr. Fitzmaurice is a veteran banker with 38 years of extensive experience in credit and risk management, most recently serving as Vice Chairman and Senior Chief Credit Officer of Opus Bank. Prior to joining Opus Bank, Mr. Fitzmaurice held various senior credit risk management positions, including Chief Credit Officer at City National Bank, a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada ("RBC"), where he was also a member of RBC's global risk committee, and Citigroup, where he was the national risk manager for middle market lending.
• William Han – EVP, Chief Financial Officer, will be responsible for the finance functions, including financial planning and analysis, asset-liability and treasury management, accounting, and financial reporting. Mr. Han is a CPA with 15 years of banking industry accounting and finance experience, most recently serving as Senior Vice President – Finance and Deputy Chief Financial Officer of Opus Bank. Prior to joining Opus Bank, Mr. Han was a senior manager at KPMG LLP, working as an auditor in the banking and financial services practice.
• Andres Gallardo – EVP, Chief Legal and Risk Officer, will be responsible for overseeing the legal, internal controls and regulatory compliance, and audit and risk assessment processes. Mr. Gallardo has over 15 years of banking experience, most recently serving as Senior Vice President – Deputy General Counsel at Opus Bank, as well as General Counsel of PENSCO Trust Company, a subsidiary of Opus Bank. Mr. Gallardo's prior banking experience includes positions held at Silvergate Bank, U.S. Bank, and San Diego National Bank. Mr. Gallardo held FINRA Series 63 and 79 Licenses and is an active member of the State Bar of California.

Mr. Gordon added, "We have the benefit of having worked extensively together as a team in the past, collectively achieving numerous accomplishments, resolving complex challenges, and successfully building and running critical processes necessary to grow and operate a commercial bank, focused in the very same markets where we've previously realized tremendous success for our clients. We are all excited to collaborate again, and leverage our collective past experiences to build Genesis Bank (In Organization) with the latest innovative technology, infrastructure, and operations, in order to effectively deliver sophisticated banking products, services, and solutions to our clients as they navigate through this challenging environment."

Mr. Gordon concluded, "I am confident that our diverse backgrounds, collective experiences, and broad skills will be a competitive advantage as we embrace this unique opportunity to build a new bank with new capital, a clean balance sheet, and no legacy processes, technology platforms, extensive branch infrastructure or credit risk exposures to impede us from making an immediate impact to our local communities."

About Gordon Ventures, LLC

Gordon Ventures, LLC is the organizing entity on behalf of Genesis Bank (In Organization).

About Genesis Bank (In Organization)

Genesis Bank (In Organization) is a proposed, California-chartered, non-member de novo commercial bank being organized by a group of highly experienced and successful bankers and business professionals.  Genesis Bank (In Organization) will focus on serving the banking needs of small to mid-sized businesses, the owners of such businesses, business professionals, and owners and investors of income-producing properties (including multi-family and commercial real estate), located primarily in Orange and Los Angeles counties, California, as well as the western portions of the Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino counties). Genesis Bank's (In Organization) products, services, and solutions will primarily include traditional commercial business, Small Business Administration (SBA), income property, and owner-occupied commercial real estate loan and deposit products, as well as treasury management services and solutions. Genesis Bank (In Organization) will also provide fiduciary banking, escrow, and section 1031 exchange services to serve the banking needs of its clients.  Genesis Bank (In Organization) will be headquartered in Newport Beach, California.

For more information, please contact:

James Jones, Spokesperson
Carpenter & Company
949-579-1441

Cautionary Statement

This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to statements regarding the application submitted to the DFPI and the FDIC and the nature of the conditions of approval thereof, the anticipated business plans, product offerings, and service levels of Genesis Bank (In Organization), and expectations of performance of Genesis Bank (In Organization) or its management team. The use of any of the words "achieve," "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "would", "project", "plans", "should", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements or information will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements or information. Genesis Bank (In Organization) does not undertake, and specifically disclaims, any obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences or unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Gordon Ventures, LLC