José Carlos (Joey) Hassan SuarezPartner, Zavala Civitas
Executive Search | Financial Services | USA
Key Takeaway
Finance and insurance account for roughly 7% of US GDP (BEA), and the sector employs more than 9 million people (BLS). Yet the number of FDIC-insured banks has fallen below 4,500, and the largest groups hold a growing share of assets, so the best candidate for a senior role usually sits at a direct competitor. The 2023 bank failures, the GENIUS Act on stablecoins and the spread of AI are creating leadership roles that few people have held before. Institutions that start searching early have a clear advantage.
Data current as of June 2026.
Regional banks are rebuilding risk and treasury functions after the failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic. Payments firms and banks are preparing for regulated stablecoins. Insurers and asset managers are moving deeper into private credit. Each shift needs a leader, and many of these jobs did not exist five years ago.
Executive Search in Financial Services Across the USA: How Bank Failures, Stablecoins and AI Are Redefining Senior Roles
Executive search for financial services in the USA is a retained, research-led process for hiring senior leaders in banks, insurers, asset managers, private credit funds, payments companies and fintechs, from CEOs and CROs to CISOs, chief AI officers and independent directors.
For decades, the next CEO or CRO came up through a money-centre bank and was well known on Wall Street long before the appointment. Three forces are changing what boards need.
Risk governance
The Federal Reserve’s review of the 2023 collapse was blunt: “Silicon Valley Bank’s board of directors and management failed to manage their risks” (Federal Reserve, Review of the Federal Reserve’s Supervision and Regulation of Silicon Valley Bank). Boards of regional banks now want CROs and treasurers who have managed liquidity under stress, not just in good years.
Digital assets
The GENIUS Act of 2025 created a federal framework for payment stablecoins. Banks need product leaders who understand tokenised payments, and crypto and payments firms need compliance leaders with bank-grade discipline. Few people have both.
AI and cyber
SEC rules now require listed companies to disclose material cyber incidents within four business days, and the Fed’s model risk guidance (SR 11-7) applies to AI models used in credit and trading. Boards need technology leaders who can explain risk in plain language and defend the institution’s choices in front of supervisors.
Financial Services Talent in the USA: Reading the Data Behind a Contested Leadership Pool
The public figures show consolidation at the top and competition for the same people:
Consolidation: There are fewer than 4,500 FDIC-insured institutions today, less than half the number at the start of the century (FDIC), and the four largest banks hold roughly 40% of industry assets. Consolidation means fewer CEO and CRO seats, and the obvious candidate usually works for a competitor.
Capital: Capital is moving away from banks. Americans hold more than US$40 trillion in retirement assets (Investment Company Institute), and private credit has grown to about US$2 trillion globally (IMF, Global Financial Stability Report). Asset managers, insurers and private credit funds now compete with banks for the same risk, credit and investment talent.
Pay: The average New York City securities industry bonus reached a record of about US$245,000 in 2024 (New York State Comptroller), and deferred awards make senior leaders expensive to move.
The leadership pool is contested. Deferred compensation, garden leave and non-solicitation terms lock senior talent in, the most-needed roles are new, and technology and private capital firms bid for the same people.
This is the core problem exec search solves in financial services in the USA: finding leaders who are not looking and giving them a credible reason to move.
Executive Search for Financial Services Leaders in the USA: Seven Profiles Boards Cannot Find Fast Enough
Hardest leadership roles to fill in US financial services
| Role | Main driver | Scarce capability |
|---|---|---|
| Chief Risk Officer, regional bank | The 2023 failures and tighter liquidity scrutiny | Liquidity and interest-rate risk managed under stress, plus supervisory credibility |
| Chief Information Security Officer | SEC cyber disclosure rules and NYDFS Part 500 | Translating cyber risk into board decisions |
| Chief AI or Chief Data Officer | AI in credit, fraud and trading under SR 11-7 | Scaling AI inside model risk governance |
| Head of Digital Assets / Stablecoin Payments | The GENIUS Act | Building tokenised products with bank-grade controls |
| Chief Compliance Officer, fintech or payments firm | Bank partnership scrutiny and BSA/AML enforcement | Bank-grade AML compliance at start-up speed |
| Chief Investment Officer, insurer or private credit fund | The growth of private credit | Credit underwriting combined with insurer capital discipline |
| Independent director, bank board | Post-2023 governance scrutiny | Risk, treasury and technology expertise at board level |
In our exec search work for chief risk officers, the capability clients most often underestimate is supervisory credibility. The best CROs have managed a liquidity scare, briefed their regulators early and kept their trust, and that rarely shows up on a CV.
Getting Executive Search Right in Financial Services in the USA: What the World’s Deepest Market Teaches Us
Financial services mandates in the USA fail for predictable reasons. Three patterns stand out:
Pedigree travels less than expected: a leader from a global systemically important bank had the brand, systems and bench behind them. We test what the candidate delivered personally.
Deferred pay changes the economics: unvested stock, deferred bonuses and carried interest can make a buyout larger than the first year’s salary, so we model it early.
The regulator is part of the audience: Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act bars people convicted of certain offences involving dishonesty from working at an insured bank without FDIC consent, and the Basel Committee states that “the board has overall responsibility for the bank” (Basel Committee, Corporate governance principles for banks). We treat the supervisor’s likely view as part of the assessment.
Peter Drucker put the stakes plainly: “No other decisions are so long lasting in their consequences or so difficult to unmake” (Harvard Business Review).
The Civitas Financial Services Leadership Framework runs in five stages:
- An institutional diagnostic.
- Market mapping across the USA and abroad.
- Confidential approaches.
- Structured assessment, including liquidity and supervisory scenarios.
- In-depth referencing, with background checks brought forward.
Most searches take 14 to 20 weeks from brief to signed offer.
A well-run exec search also plans the move: garden leave of three to six months is common, so a realistic start date is often six to nine months after the search begins.
Not every exec search firm is equipped for regulated mandates. Since 1971, our work from Toronto, Madrid, São Paulo and Shanghai has shown that the best hires often come from outside the obvious market, including the US operations of Canadian and European banks. This guide was written by José Carlos (Joey) Hassan Suarez, Partner at Zavala Civitas.
Read more about our financial services executive search practice, or, if you are planning an exec search in financial services in the USA, contact our team for a confidential conversation.
About the author José Carlos (Joey) Hassan Suarez
Partner | Zavala Civitas
José Carlos (Joey) Hassan Suarez is a Partner at Zavala Civitas, where he launched the firm’s Canadian operations from Toronto. He has worked across the Americas, Europe and Asia, with earlier roles at BNP Paribas and J.P. Morgan, and co-founded the travel company Mondevia. He holds a double master’s degree in Business Administration and Law from Universidad San Pablo CEU and is fluent in Spanish, English and French.
Your Questions on Executive Search in Financial Services Across the USA, Answered
What is executive search for financial services in the USA?
It is a retained, research-led process for hiring senior leaders such as CEOs, CFOs, chief risk officers, CISOs, chief AI officers and independent board members for banks, insurers, asset managers, private credit funds, payments companies and fintechs in the USA. It focuses on approaching qualified candidates who are not actively looking for a new role.
Which leadership roles are hardest to fill in US financial services?
Chief risk officers who have managed liquidity under stress, CISOs who can brief a board, chief AI officers who work within model risk rules, and digital asset leaders with bank-grade controls are among the scarcest profiles. Regional banks also struggle to attract CEOs and CFOs away from the largest banks.
How did the 2023 bank failures change executive hiring in the USA?
The failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic put risk governance at the centre of board agendas. Boards now look for CROs, treasurers and directors with direct experience of liquidity and interest-rate stress, and they check supervisory track records earlier in the process.
How is the GENIUS Act changing leadership hiring in US financial services?
The GENIUS Act of 2025 created a federal framework for payment stablecoins. Banks need product and payments leaders who understand tokenised money, and crypto and payments firms need compliance and risk leaders with bank-grade experience.
How long does an executive search take for a financial services role in the USA?
Most searches take 14 to 20 weeks from brief to signed offer. Garden leave, non-solicitation terms and deferred compensation buyouts mean the new leader often starts six to nine months after the search begins.
Methodology and Citations
Zavala Civitas combines market mapping across the USA and abroad with structured assessment of supervisory credibility and risk leadership under stress. The analysis draws on public data from the BEA, BLS, FDIC, Federal Reserve, ICI and IMF.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis. GDP by Industry.
- Bureau of Labor Statistics. Current Employment Statistics, Financial Activities.
- FDIC. Quarterly Banking Profile.
- Federal Reserve. (2023). Review of the Federal Reserve’s Supervision and Regulation of Silicon Valley Bank.
- Investment Company Institute. Quarterly Retirement Market Data.
- IMF. Global Financial Stability Report.
- New York State Comptroller. Wall Street Bonus Report.
- Basel Committee on Banking Supervision. Corporate governance principles for banks.
- Drucker, P. (1985). How to Make People Decisions. Harvard Business Review.
