HomeStreet Bank taps outsider as new leader

HomeStreet Bank, the second-largest bank based in Seattle, has named an outsider as CEO, ending three generations of family leadership as the bank seeks new capital to repair its eroded finances.

Mark K. Mason will join HomeStreet Bank as chairman and CEO, the company said Friday, replacing Bruce W. Williams as soon as regulators approve the change.

Williams is a third-generation member of the W. Walter Williams family, majority owners of HomeStreet.

Federal and state regulators ordered HomeStreet in May to boost its capital levels, reduce its problem loans, slash expenses, and make other changes to its operations and internal policies.

The bank's announcement said Mason "will focus on leading the bank in acquiring new capital, continuing to address challenges in the bank's loan portfolio and strengthening the institution."

Mason was most recently president and CEO of BluePoint Energy, an energy-management company; he previously served as CEO of Fidelity Federal Bank in Los Angeles; chief financial officer of First Alliance Corporation, a subprime-mortgage banking company; and CFO of the Eadington Companies, a diversified real-estate-development company.

In May, the bank said it had taken some of the steps called for by regulators, reducing its exposure to commercial real estate, streamlining operations, eliminating shareholder dividends and freezing executive salaries and bonuses.

In the first half of this year, HomeStreet lost $39.6 million, largely because of the $76.3 million it set aside to cover loans it expects will go bad in the future.

As of June 30, the bank's past due and nonperforming loans were $413.7 million, or 17.9 percent of its total loan portfolio, according to reports filed with federal regulators.

The bank charged off $39.7 million in bad loans in the first half, versus $4.5 million in the first half of 2008.

Material from Seattle Times archives was used in this report.