William F. Hatfield, the last high-profile Rhode Island executive left at Fleet Bank, has been named president of Bank of America Rhode Island, the North Carolina-based company announced Friday.
The appointment comes on Neil Steinberg’s last day as chairman and CEO of Fleet Rhode Island, and just two weeks after he announced his resignation to take the top fund-raising job at Brown University, his alma mater. Fleet Rhode Island President Joanna Robbins left earlier this year.
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Though Hatfield will have Robbins’ title, Anne Finucane, Northeast president for Bank of America, described him in a news release as Steinberg’s successor. As the senior executive for Rhode Island, Hatfield will provide business, civic and philanthropic leadership for Bank of America throughout the state, Finucane said.
The bank said Hatfield “will continue to work to strengthen communication and integration among the company’s local business lines, focusing on the goals of continuously improving the customer experience, growing revenue in the Rhode Island market and representing Bank of America in the community.”
Hatfield, of Barrington, was most recently FleetBoston Financial’s vice chairman for Rhode Island and southeastern Massachusetts, as well as local head of Fleet’s Private Clients Group, Quick & Reilly brokerage and Columbia Management Group operations. He has been at Fleet since 1981 and has held several leadership posts in corporate banking.
“Bank of America is very fortunate to have an outstanding leader, civic champion and experienced banker like Bill Hatfield lead our team in Rhode Island,” said Finucane. “We are very excited to have him stepping into this critical role. Rhode Island, where Fleet was established in 1791, is an extremely important market to Bank of America.”
Steinberg also served as Fleet’s Rhode Island middle market banking executive, and Finucane announced that Oliver Bennett has been named to succeed him in that capacity. Bennett, who has been with Fleet’s middle market banking group since 1994, will now lead that team, joined by Virginia Roberts, Rhode Island middle market banking executive for health care and institutions. Bank of America is the predominant middle market bank in the United States, serving commercial clients with annual sales between $10 million and $2 billion.
“Oliver will provide continuity, energy and experience to serve our commercial customers and continue our prominence as the leading commercial bank in Rhode Island,” Steinberg said in a news release.
