By Andrew R. Johnson
Ally Financial Inc. said Monday that its corporate treasurer
Christopher Halmy will become chief financial officer of the
government-owned auto lender in November as current CFO James
Mackey leaves the company for another career opportunity.
Mr. Halmy will assume the CFO role on Nov. 8, the same day Mr.
Mackey is set to leave, Ally said.
Mr. Halmy has been corporate treasurer since June 2011 and
joined Ally in 2009. Before that, he held several treasury and
finance positions at Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Merrill Lynch,
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and other firms.
In the CFO role, Mr. Halmy will report to Jeffrey Brown, senior
executive vice president of finance and corporate planning for
Ally.
Mr. Mackey, who has been CFO since June 2011, has been with Ally
since 2009. Ally did not say where Mr. Mackey was going after
leaving the company.
The management announcement comes as Chief Executive Officer
Michael Carpenter is preparing the company for a possible initial
public offering that could allow the U.S. Treasury Department to
sell its majority stake in Ally.
Ally, the former in-house financing arm of General Motors Co.
(GM), is 74% owned by the U.S. government after receiving a $17.2
billion bailout during the financial crisis.
Ally's exposure to mortgage liabilities has prevented the
company from moving forward on efforts to get out from government
ownership, though Ally has taken several steps in the last two
years to try to eliminate those hurdles.
Its subprime mortgage subsidiary, Residential Capital LLC, filed
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2012, a move intended to help Ally
separate itself from billions of dollars of liabilities tied to
mortgage bonds. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in June approved a $2.1
billion settlement Ally reached with ResCap and the subsidiary's
creditors that largely shields Ally from such liabilities.
The company also announced a plan in August to raise $1 billion
by selling common stock to about 12 investors in a bid to raise its
capital levels. In conjunction with the transaction, Ally is
seeking the Federal Reserve's approval to purchase about $5.9
billion of preferred shares held by Treasury, which would reduce
the government's ownership in the company to about 65%.
Following those moves, an IPO that would allow Treasury to sell
its remaining stake could be possible, Mr. Carpenter has said.
Write to Andrew R. Johnson at andrew.r.johnson@dowjones.com
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