CIT Group’s Thain says appointment of CFO, corporate controller fills out leadership team

CIT Group names CFO, corporate controller

NEW YORK — CIT Group Inc. on Friday named a new chief financial officer and corporate controller, completing the leadership team John Thain has put in place since taking the helm of the business lender in February.

Scott T. Parker, 43, becomes executive vice president, chief financial officer. He was previously chief operating officer and chief financial officer of an affiliate of private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management LP.

Carol Hayles, 49, becomes controller. She was previously deputy controller of Citigroup Inc. where she spent 24 years in several executive positions.

She will serve as the company’s principal accounting officer and oversee the accounting department and all reporting to the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators.

“The appointment of Carol as our corporate controller now completes the leadership team of our finance department,” said Thain, a former Merrill Lynch CEO.

CIT Group, one of the nation’s largest lenders to small and midsize businesses, entered bankruptcy last fall after suffering heavy loan losses. The company emerged rapidly after reshuffling its mounting debt.

In April, the company said it turned a profit in its first quarter since emerging from bankruptcy protection.

On Thursday, Thain said the company has about $2.5 billion in new lines of credit and has sold about $2.8 billion in assets so far this year.

Shares rose 42 cents to $33.68 in afternoon trading Friday.