Boston, Mass., USA - April 9, 2014, Boston, Mass., USA - Santander Bank, N.A. announced the appointments of Gerald P. Plush as chief financial officer of Santander Holdings USA, Inc., the bank's U.S. holding company, and Maria Tedesco as managing director of retail banking for Santander Bank.
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Prior to joining Santander, Mr. Plush was most recently president and chief operating officer of Waterbury, Connecticut-based Webster Bank, where he had also served as CFO and chief risk officer. Mr. Plush joined Webster in July, 2006 as chief financial officer and subsequently added the title of chief risk officer. In January, 2011, he was named vice chairman and chief operating officer.
Before joining Webster, Mr. Plush spent 11 years with MBNA America in Wilmington, Del., culminating with his role as senior executive vice president and managing director of corporate development and acquisitions. Prior to this position, he was senior executive vice president and chief financial officer for MBNA's North American Operations where he was responsible for all finance functions related to MBNA's U.S. card, consumer finance and Canadian operations.
Mr. Plush earned a B.S. in accounting from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia. He is a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Financial Services Roundtable and Financial Executives International.
Ms. Tedesco served in a variety of positions at Providence-based Citizens Bank, most recently as group executive vice president and head of retail banking. She brings to Santander more than 25 years of experience in retail and business banking in the U.S. northeast.
Ms. Tedesco joined Citizens Bank in 1994 and has held a variety of senior leadership roles in Retail and Business Banking. In 2012, Ms. Tedesco was named one of the Most Powerful Team-Leading Women in Banking by American Banker.
Ms. Tedesco currently sits on the Financial Services Small Business Roundtable and is a board member of Citizens Bank Foundation, Project Bread and the CBA Small Business Working Group. She is a member of the Small Business Executive Circle, the Commonwealth Institute, the Inner Circle of the National Association of Professional Women. ■