Customers Bancorp hires new general counsel

NYSE-listed Customers Bancorp has hired Andrew Sachs as executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary.

Sachs succeeds Michael DeTommaso, who is retiring from those positions. DeTommaso will remain with the bank as a senior legal adviser until the end of the year to help with the transition.

Sachs was previously a partner with law firm Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, where his practice focused on ETFs, mutual funds, investment advisers, M&A and securities. Before his legal career, he worked in the information technology industry.

According to the company, Sachs and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton supported Customers Bank, the community bank subsidiary of Customers Bancorp, through the launch of its community bank-fintech hybrid business model used to ultimately fund roughly 340,000 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act paycheck protection program loans in response to the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic.

‘Andrew Sachs is uniquely qualified to join our digital-forward and rapidly growing financial services company,’ Customers Bancorp chair and CEO Jay Sidhu says in a statement. ‘Banking is evolving rapidly, and Customers is at the forefront. We are delivering services throughout the nation with the support of advanced technology platforms. Andrew is the right counsel to help guide the board and organization through this exciting process.’

Sidhu adds: ‘Mike [DeTommaso] has been such a valuable and important part of our team. He was a key player in helping us to grow from a regional bank to a national presence in the financial and banking industry. We wish him well in his retirement from Customers.’