Carolina First Names Interim President
March 03, 2010 04:33 PM Eastern Time
GREENVILLE, S.C.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--The South Financial Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: TSFG)
announced that it has named Christopher S. Gompper as the interim president of banking operations for its Carolina
First markets in North and South Carolina. In his role as interim president, Gompper’s primary focus will be the day
to day execution of strategies and plans that support the bank’s vision to be the relationship bank of choice in our
local markets. Gompper will continue to be responsible for the bank’s retail performance and delivery functions,
marketing, and wealth management. Ernie Diaz, the president of The South Financial Group’s banking operations for
its Mercantile franchise in Florida, will assume leadership for commercial performance and delivery functions.
“We are pleased to have someone with Chris’ depth of experience and solid balance of sales, banking and strategy
in this position,” said H. Lynn Harton, President and CEO of The South Financial Group. “He has the leadership
abilities to build on the successful momentum of our local teams and to continue to aggressively take the steps
necessary to improve our financial performance.”
With more than 25 years of banking experience, Gompper joined Carolina First in June 2005 as executive vice
president of bank strategy and business segment performance. He was responsible for bank strategy and
performance of commercial, retail and private banking, including marketing and branch administration functions.
Additionally, Gompper managed the corporate level business units for treasury and merchant services, international,
brokerage and trust.
“Our team in the Carolinas is focused on making a difference for our customers and communities,” said Gompper. “I
am delighted to take on this new role, particularly given our talented and dedicated team. We are focused on the
future and are excited about our opportunities to deepen our customer relationships and c