The woman who at one point ran the biggest mortgage lender in the country has been hired by Citigroup Inc. as the chief operating officer of its banking unit.
In the third-quarter 2008, Bank of America Corp. reported that residential loan originations, including home-equity loan production, were $58 billion.
Based on origination data maintained by Mortgage Daily, that was more home loan volume than was generated by any other U.S. lender during the period.
At the helm of BofA’s mortgage unit at the time was Barbara Desoer, who was named president of real estate operations in May 2008.
Desoer’s time at the Charlotte, N.C.-based company came to an end in February 2012, when BofA announced she would retire. The disclosure followed BofA’s 2011 announcement that Desoer would no longer report to Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan and instead report to Co-Chief Operating Officer David Darnell.
Desoer, who at one point had been rumored as a candidate to replace former BofA CEO Ken Lewis, spent 35 years at the company.
After a more than one-year hiatus from the financial services industry, Desoer has landed at Citibank, N.A., as the COO, according to an internal memorandum from the unit’s CEO, Gene McQuade.
She begins her new assignment on Oct. 15.
“Working with me and the CBNA Board, she will oversee the governance of the bank legal vehicle,” McQuade stated.
He went on to highlight the strong relationships Desoer developed with regulators, the board of directors and other key stakeholders.
“Barbara is the ideal person to deepen the management bench both of CBNA and of Citi, and we’re delighted to have her join our team,” McQuade added.
