Ellen Alemany


Ellen Rose Alemany is an American business executive. She is the Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer of CIT Group, one of the top 50 largest banks in the United States. Alemany also leads the principal bank subsidiary, CIT Bank, N.A., as its Chairwoman and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining CIT, Alemany was the Head of RBS Americas, the management structure that oversees The Royal Bank of Scotland’s businesses in the Americas, and Chief Executive Officer of RBS Citizens Financial Group, Inc., an RBS subsidiary, until she retired in September 2013.
Alemany is on the boards of CIT, Fidelity National Information Services, Operation HOPE, Inc., The Center for Discovery, and Partnership for New York City. She also serves on the Board of Advisors for the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City and the Board of Trustees for The Conference Board.
In 2019, Alemany was named by American Banker as the second most powerful woman in banking.

Early life and education

Ellen Rose Alemany was born in New York City to William P. Luciani and Lucy M. Luciani. She attended secondary school at the Academy of Mount Saint Ursula in The Bronx, New York. After graduating from the Academy of Mount Saint Ursula High School in 1973, Alemany enrolled at the University of Bridgeport where she graduated in three years in 1976 with a bachelor's degree in English literature. Alemany was awarded a master's in business administration from Fordham University Graduate School of Business with a specialization in finance in 1980. She completed the Credit Training Program at Chase Manhattan Bank in 1981.
In 2011, she received an honorary doctorate from Bryant University.

Career

Citibank

From 1977 to 1987, Alemany worked at Chase Bank. In 1987, Alemany joined Citibank and held various positions including Executive Vice President for the Commercial Business Group, which includes CitiCapital, the Commercial Markets Group and the Commercial Real Estate Group. CitiCapital, where she also served as President and CEO, was the second-largest bank-owned leasing company in North America.
She held a number of executive positions in Citigroup's Global Corporate Bank, including Customer Group Executive of North American Markets, Global Industry Head of Media and Communications, and U.S. Industry Head of Consumer Products, before being appointed Executive Vice President of Citibank and Customer Group Executive for the Global Relationship Bank in Europe, based in London, in 1999. She also served as Chairman and CEO for Citibank International plc, Citibank's European bank; Country Corporate Officer for the United Kingdom; and member of the Board of Citibank, N.A.

RBS Citizens Financial Group

Alemany joined RBS Americas as chairman and CEO in 2007. In 2008, Alemany was named CEO of RBS Citizens Financial Group, the country's 12th largest bank by assets and was appointed chairman and CEO in 2009. RBS Citizens is a commercial bank holding company regulated by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Alemany managed 19,000 employees over a 12 state retail and commercial banking footprint stretching from New England through the Mid-Atlantic and into three states in the Midwest.
Alemany chaired RBS Citizens Financial Group and RBS Citizens, N.A. She was also a member of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group's executive committee, RBS's nine-member executive leadership team. In October 2013, she retired as chairman and CEO of RBS Citizens Financial Group and RBS Americas.

CIT Group

Alemany came out of early retirement to become the CEO of CIT Group in April 2016 and became chairwoman in May 2016. Upon taking over as CEO, Alemany began simplifying the company by focusing on lending and deposit-gathering. CIT has since divested from its riskier, non-core businesses, which required the company to exit its international presence.
Alemany has also been credited with increasing the number of women in CIT's senior ranks. There were only two women on CIT's executive team when Alemany took over as Chairwoman and CEO of CIT. As of September 2018, there were five women on the 15-member panel, in roles such as chief technology and operations officer and chief credit officer. Additionally, women currently account for one-third of CIT’s board.

Other positions

Federal Advisory Council

Alemany was appointed as the First District Representative on the Federal Advisory Council that advises the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Alemany served a three-year term from 2008-2010.
Alemany served as Treasurer and Executive committee member of the Financial Services Roundtable, board member of The Clearing House Payments Company, board member of Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation and board member of The Equipment Leasing & Finance Association.

Current boards

Alemany has been serving on the board of Operation HOPE since 2015. HOPE is a global non-profit working to eradicate poverty and create an inclusive economy that works for all. Alemany has worked with HOPE to create the Launch and Grow initiative to inspire and promote female entrepreneurship
Alemany has been serving on the board of Automatic Data Processing since 2012. ADP is one of the largest providers of business processing and cloud based solutions to employers around the world.
Alemany joined the board of CIT in January 2014. CIT provides commercial financing, lending, leasing and advisory services to small and middle market businesses.
In 2014, Alemany joined the board of Fidelity National Information Services, the world's largest global provider of banking and payments technology, consulting and outsourcing solutions.
Alemany has been serving on the Center for Discovery Board of Directors since 2008. From 2002-10, she was a Member of the Board of Directors of the March of Dimes.

Personal life

She is married to Joaquin "Jack" Alemany; they have three children, including Jacqueline Alemany. The other two named are David and Ellen Jr., who has cerebral palsy.

Awards and honors