Jay Sidhu

Jay Sidhu (born August 8, 1951) is an American bank executive. He is the Chairman (chairman) and CEO (chief executive officer) of Customers Bancorp<, BankMobile, Since August 2018, Sidhu has also served as the Executive Chairman of Megalith Financial Acquisition Corporation.
When Sidhu joined Customers Bank in 2009, previously known as New Century Bank, it was a $250 million asset-troubled bank. Today, it is a high performing bank with just under $10 billion in assets with branches in suburban Philadelphia, Hamilton, NJ and Rye, NY. The bank is headquartered in Phoenixville, PA and has additional offices stretching along the I-95 corridor from Washington, DC to Boston; and in Chicago.
In May 2010, Sidhu led an investment in the publicly traded bank holding company Atlantic Coast Financial Corporation, headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, which wholly owns Atlantic Coast Bank. Sidhu was appointed to the Board of Directors (still serving), and also served as the Chairman of the Board until April 2012. During the second half of 2013, he led an effort by Atlantic Coast Financial Corporation to raise capital through a public offering, which resulted in the company successfully raising $48 million (with net proceeds of $45 million) in December 2013. Atlantic Coast Bank is a $744 million asset bank (as of March 31, 2015), also headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, with 11 branches in northeast Florida and southeast Georgia.
From 2006 to 2009, Sidhu served as the Chairman and CEO of Sidhu Advisors, LLC, a private equity and financial services consulting company. In March 2008, he filed for his own $150 million SPAC, Special Purpose Capital Corp. Prior to that, he was the Chairman and CEO of Sovereign Bancorp, Inc and Sovereign Bank, a $90 billion financial institution, until his retirement on Dec. 31, 2006.
During his 20-year career at Sovereign, he grew the organization from an IPO value of $12 million to the 17th largest banking institution in the US, with a market cap approaching $12 billion at the end of 2006. Through 2006 Sovereign's shareholders experienced an IRR of 17% over the last 20 years; outperforming the S&P500 and Dow over 5, 10 and 20-year periods.
Sidhu has received several accolades for his contributions to banking and the business community. He was included on Philadelphia Business Journal's Power List in 2018, 2017, and 2016. In 2017, Jay received the CEO of the Year Award from the Asian American Chamber of Commerce of Greater Philadelphia. He also received Philadelphia Business Journal's Change Driver Award, was named the Ernst & Young Fintech Entrepreneur Of The Year, Financial World's CEO of the Year, Turnaround Entrepreneur of the Year, and the Large Business Leader of the Year by the Chamber of Commerce.
In addition to receiving recognition from the banking and finance industry, Jay has been commended for his commitment to philanthropy and his community. He was named Citizen of the Year by the Caron Foundation and received the Hero of Liberty Award from the National Liberty Museum.
Sidhu has served on the boards of several businesses and non-for-profits, including as a member of the board of Grupo Santander (Madrid) and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Wilkes University. He obtained an MBA from Wilkes University and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Leadership Course.
As a speaker on leadership and emotional intelligence, he has attended conferences in the US, Europe and Asia, including Artificial Intelligence Week Middle East in Dubai. At his alma mater, he helped establish the Jay Sidhu School of Business and Leadership at Wilkes University, with the goal of it becoming a prominent center of excellence in these disciplines.

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