Photo by James Sanna | Commercial Record staff

In the same week that Berkshire Bank agreed to cooperate with an asset management firm that had questioned the bank’s decision to hire a new CEO instead of pursuing a sale, the chief financial officer who had a key role in the controversy submitted his resignation to the bank.

James “Jamie” Moses, Berkshire Bank’s senior executive vice president and CFO, notified the bank on March 9 that he planned to resign, the bank said in an SEC filing on Friday. His resignation is effective at the end of this week.

“Moses is resigning to accept another position in the financial services industry and has agreed to make himself available to assist in transitioning his duties,” the bank said in the 8-K filing.

Moses had joined Berkshire Bank in 2016 after spending five years at Webster Bank, where he was senior vice president and asset liability manager, according to his biography on Berkshire’s website. Before Webster Bank, he was at M&T Bank for four years.

The resignation comes after New York-based HoldCo Asset Management sent an open letter in February to J. Williar Dunlaevy, Berkshire’s board chairman, questioning the bank’s decision to hire a new CEO instead of pursuing other alternatives, including a sale. Berkshire had announced last August that it would search for a new leader after then-CEO Richard Marotta abruptly resigned. Former Webster Bank executive Nitin Mhatre was announced as the new CEO in January.

In its letter, HoldCo cited comments Moses had made about Berkshire Bank at an industry conference. According to HoldCo, Moses reportedly said he did not believe that the board had considered a sale or partnership during the CEO search and that he was “disappointed” in the board. Moses also said he thought Berkshire should have a shareholder buyback program in place, according to HoldCo.

Berkshire agreed on March 7 to cooperate with HoldCo, including by nominating HoldCo’s co-founder, Michael “Misha” Zaitzeff, to the board of directors.

Berkshire Bank has appointed Brett Brbovic, senior vice president and chief accounting officer, age 40, as acting chief financial officer effective March 19, according to the SEC filing. The bank said it would search for a permanent CFO. Brbovic joined Berkshire Bank in 2012 and has been chief accounting officer since 2015.