New Canaanite named CEO of BNC Financial Group

Peyton R. Patterson has been named CEO of BNC Financial Group and its subsidiaries, the Bank of New Canaan, the Bank of Fairfield and Stamford First Bank, a division of the Bank of New Canaan.

She also has joined the board of the holding company and will join the boards of the subsidiary banks in September. She succeeds Merrill Jay Forgotson, who will remain with the company for some time as an adviser to the CEO.

Patterson, of New Canaan, brings to BNC Financial Group more than 25 years of experience. She was named Community Banker of the Year by American Banker in 2008. U.S. Banker named her one of the top 10 CEOs in banking nationwide in 2006. In 2004 and 2005, U.S. Banker ranked Patterson second on its list of the "25 Most Powerful Women in Banking."

"I have known and admired BNC Financial Group for quite some time, and join the team with a like-minded belief that exceptional service, local decision-making, and community investment will always stand out," said Patterson.

She added, "At a time when trust in the nation's financial institutions desperately needs to be restored, and when lending to small businesses is more important than ever, I'm proud to be a dyed-in-the-wool community banker. My commitment is to deepen and expand upon the strengths that have already earned us recognition as the No. 1 community bank in Connecticut."

Most recently, Patterson was chairman and CEO of NewAlliance Bancshares Inc., headquartered in New Haven. Over her 10 years with the bank, Patterson completed six acquisitions, and NewAlliance grew to be the third largest bank headquartered in New England.

"We are exceptionally pleased to welcome Peyton to the BNC Financial Group family," said Blake Drexler, chairman of the holding company and the Bank of New Canaan. "Even more important than her long track record of leadership and growth generation, Peyton shares with us a core belief that putting customers and the community first is good for business."

Prior to NewAlliance, Patterson was the executive vice president of consumer financial services for Dime Bancorp, headquartered in New York. Previously, she spent eight years with Chemical Bank and Chase Manhattan as senior vice president running, most recently, its national consumer lending businesses. She began her banking career with Corestates Financial Corp. in Philadelphia where, over an eight-year period, she held a variety of retail banking positions.

Patterson serves on the boards of the Consumer Bankers Association, Connecticut Council for Education Reform, the NewAlliance Foundation, the Greater New York United Way, the Greenwich YMCA and is on the executive committee of Yale-New Haven Hospital.