A Bank Fires Its C.E.O., but Why?

Three months after losing a bundle of money and blaming the losses on outside fraud, struggling AmericasBank Corp. today fired its chief executive, Mark H. Anders.

The company, based in Towson, Maryland, announced the dismissal of Anders in one sentence, and offered no explanation or elaboration. No one at the bank returned calls to explain whether his departure had any connection with the fraud.

The bank appointed chief financial officer A. Gary Rever as acting C.E.O. effective immediately.

At the end of January, AmericasBank said it would take a $2.9 million loan loss provision to cover the partial write-down of five loans. Three of those loans were to a group of borrowers "where the company has uncovered evidence of possible fraud by outside parties against the bank," AmericasBank said at the time.

AmericasBank had hired Anders, a veteran of Annapolis Bancorp, in 2003 to lead a turnaround. Under his command, AmericasBank posted its first quarterly profit, and the bank had announced plans to open branches in several Maryland cities this year.

But its heavy reliance on mortgage lending dragged the bank back into trouble, Anders acknowledged in January. The bank's "timing has not been fortuitous," he noted when the bank posted its financial results.

Its fraud problem has not been fully aired, but AmericasBank said it had hired an accounting firm to review its loan policies, and an investment advisor to help the bank evaluate whether its future involves taking the bank private, merging it or trying to raise more money.

Its chairman, Lee W. Warner, did not return a call for comment.

by Elizabeth Olson