Investment-banking veteran was Community’s financial advisor

DeWITT, N.Y. — Community Bank System, Inc. (NYSE: CBU) recently announced that it has hired an experienced investment banker who helped advise it on mergers and acquisitions (M&A).

The DeWitt–based banking company said Dimitar Karaivanov will be joining as its new executive VP of financial services and corporate development, effective June 4.

He will oversee Community Bank System’s non-banking subsidiaries and financial-services businesses and operations. That includes the employee-benefit services and institutional-trust businesses, the wealth management and investment-advisory units, and the insurance and risk-management businesses. These financial-services business lines account for about one-fourth of Community Bank System’s consolidated operating earnings, the banking company said in a news release. 

In addition, Karaivanov will have oversight of the company’s corporate-development efforts, which includes both the bank and financial-services businesses. 

Karaivanov has more than 15 years of experience as an investment banker for banks, other financial institutions, and fintech companies. He joins Community Bank System from Lazard Middle Market, where he served as a managing director and member of that firm’s financial institutions group (FIG) since June 2018. Prior to joining Lazard, Karaivanov was a managing director in FIG investment banking at RBC Capital Markets, where he counseled financial-services clients on more than 30 M&A transactions topping $20 billion in total deal value, according to his biography on the Lazard website. He also held positions in FIG investment banking at Janney Montgomery Scott and Bear, Stearns & Co.

Karaivanov advised Community Bank System on its more than $300 million acquisition of Merchants Bancshares, Inc., the largest statewide independent bank in Vermont, in a deal that was announced in October 2016 and closed in May 2017.

“We are delighted to have Dimitar join our executive management team. I have known and worked with him for the past 15 years and he is one the most strategic and astute financial thinkers I have ever worked with,” Mark E. Tryniski, Community Bank System’s president and CEO, said in the release. “… He brings a detailed understanding of the company’s strategy, business, culture, and people, which he has acquired by serving as our primary financial advisor over the last decade. He is the right person to lead our financial services businesses and will bring tremendous knowledge and experience to our merger and acquisition strategy, which continues to be an important element of our overall strategic objectives.”

Community Bank System operates more than 230 branches across upstate New York, northeastern Pennsylvania, Vermont, and western Massachusetts through its banking subsidiary, Community Bank, N.A. With assets of more than $13.9 billion, it is among the country’s 125 largest banking institutions. The company’s non-banking businesses include Community Bank Wealth Management Group, OneGroup NY, Inc., and Benefit Plans Administrative Services, Inc.          

Linda Lacewell, superintendent of financial services, has also announced Tremaine Wright — previous representative for the 56th district of the New York State Assembly — as the office’s first director.

“This office will advance the Department’s strategic financial inclusion initiatives, beginning with an inventory of services available from community organizations, advocacy groups, and industry across the state. The office will also pilot and develop policy initiatives designed to help further financial inclusion and empowerment,” Lacewell said. “Tremaine Wright’s extensive background and expertise as a consumer advocacy leader and government representative will be a critical asset for the Department and for New Yorkers.” 

As director, Wright will develop and implement policy and programs for the new office of financial inclusion and empowerment, the state’s first office focused on community wealth-building, DFS said. The office will work with stakeholders across the state to identify and develop strategies to increase household and community wealth, particularly for “historically underserved” populations, and to help connect consumers with local services. 

The office of financial inclusion and empowerment will coordinate existing work and initiatives across New York with community partners to develop and incubate new ideas and approaches to “economic empowerment and justice,” and be a source of New York-related data analysis and research. The new office will maintain a centralized list of financial-services counseling providers — across housing, student loan, debt, and general financial literacy — throughout the state. It will also coordinate state and local services aimed at expanding access to credit and opportunities for wealth building. 

“Lack of access to affordable banking products have traditionally led to exclusion and predatory lending within low-income communities and communities of color,” Wright said. “I look forward to joining the DFS team and supplementing their ongoing work with advocates and everyday New Yorkers to advance DFS’ economic-justice initiatives designed to identify and remove barriers to accessing financial services.”

About Wright

Before this appointment, Wright was elected to the New York State Assembly on Nov. 8, 2016, serving the Brooklyn borough of New York City. She was chair of the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian legislative caucus and chair of the Assembly Subcommittee on Foster Care. 

Prior to her election to the Assembly, Wright practiced law at Brooklyn Legal Services and private law firms. She also owned and operated a neighborhood coffee house from March 2006 to September 2015. Wright earned her law degree from the University of Chicago Law School and her bachelor’s degree from Duke University.