Dive Brief:

• Richard Gold will retire as president and chief operating officer of M&T Bank after the first quarter of 2023, the firm announced in a press release Thursday.
• Gold plans to remain on M&T’s board of directors after stepping down, according to the press release.
• The bank has yet to name a successor to take over as president and COO. 

Dive Insight:

Prior to joining M&T, Gold served in cash management and operations positions at Bankers Trust Company, and then in marketing and product development at Citibank. 

Gold joined the Buffalo, New York-based bank in 1989, and has held numerous leadership positions since, in retail banking, business banking, mortgage, consumer lending and marketing. 

Since Gold started at M&T, the company has expanded rapidly, and now counts branches across 12 states and the District of Columbia. 

Gold was appointed to lead the bank’s mortgage and consumer lending business at the beginning of the 2008 housing crisis, according to American Banker.   

And in 2014, Gold was named vice chairman and chief risk officer of M&T, at a time when regulators had stalled the bank’s merger with Hudson City Bancorp for two years over lacking risk controls. The deal closed in November 2015. 

Gold was appointed president and COO of M&T in 2017, soon after the firm’s chairman and CEO, Robert Wilmers, passed away. 

Gold has served as a member of the board of the Consumer Bankers Association since 2011, according to his LinkedIn profile. 

"It's difficult to overstate Rich's impact on our company," M&T Chairman and CEO René Jones said in a statement. "It has been his life's work to instill and perpetuate a culture that we all take pride in — one that allows us to operate with a sense of purpose and feel as though we are a part of something larger. That focus on culture, coupled with a keen ability to identify and cultivate leaders, has ensured that we have an outstanding talent base to carry our purpose forward and continue to make a difference in people's lives."

The bank is currently in the planning process for locating a successor for Gold, an M&T spokesperson told American Banker.