Berkshire Bank CFO abruptly steps down

Courtesy | Berkshire Bank Berkshire Bank removed the remaining Commerce Bank signs after 2017 acquisition.

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By Kevin Koczwara

The chief financial officer of Berkshire Bank, Subhadeep Basu, abruptly resigned from his position on Oct. 7 after 19 months on the job, the Boston-based financial institution announced Thursday.

Basu resigned from his post effective immediately for personal reasons and to pursue other career interests, according to Berkshire, which has 14 branches in Central Massachusetts.

He is the third Berkshire executive to leave in such a quick manner since 2018, when Michael Daly resigned as president and CEO in November of that year after 32 years with the company, with little explanation for the departure. Daly received $7.5 million as a severance package. His successor, CEO and Director Richard Marotta, quickly departed his role in August 2020, also with no explanation.

Typically, when executives leave a high-profile position, especially for a publicly traded company like Berkshire, they give several months notice so their firm can find a suitable replacement. Marotta was immediately succeed by Chief Operating Officer Sean Gray, who served as acting CEO until Marotta’s permanent replacement, Nitin Mhatre, was hired in January 2021.

Regarding Basu’s departure on Oct. 7, Gary Levante, Berkshire’s senior vice president of corporate responsibility and communications, said Basu stepped down for nothing more than personal reasons and to pursue other career interests, but will be available through the end of the year to advise the bank during the transition. Levante said Basu did a great job as the bank’s CFO.

Basu joined Berkshire in March 2021 from Boston financial firm State Street Corp. As CFO, he replaced James Moses, who is now CFO of First Bank in St. Louis, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Levante said the bank is confident it can manage the transition following Basu’s resignation because the bank has a deep bench on the management team, and that Berkshire is well prepared.

Brett Brbovic, senior vice president and chief accounting officer, has been named interim CFO and is leading the search for Basu’s replacement. Brbovic joined Berkshire in 2012.

Berkshire is using the Boston consulting firm Spencer Stuart to aid in the executive search, Levante said.

Berkshire Bank is the seventh largest bank in Central Massachusetts, when ranked by local deposits. It acquired Worcester-based Commerce Bank in 2017 for $230 million and in February re-branded all of the former Commerce locations as Berkshire Bank.