Ally Bank CEO Barbara Yastine to Depart -- Update

By Lisa Beilfuss 

Ally Financial Inc. said Barbara Yastine, the head of its banking unit, will step down, a move that comes less than two months after the auto lender's new CEO outlined plans to build up the retail-banking business.

Ms. Yastine, who served as chief executive, chairman and president of the banking unit, will remain with the company until June to assist with the transition. She became CEO of Ally Bank in May 2012 and had joined the company two years earlier as chief administrative officer. Ally said a successor would be named in the near term.

The Detroit-based company, which was formerly known as GMAC, named Jeffrey Brown to succeed Michael Carpenter as CEO in early February after the board took issue with Mr. Carpenter's comments about former parent General Motors Co.'s decision to shut the company out of a lucrative leasing business.

In the wake of his appointment, Mr. Brown outlined a plan to build up Ally's retail-banking businesses and push further into other areas of auto financing, including subprime loans. He also said he reached out to officials at GM.

Ally went public last April, in what many investors deemed a disappointing debut, after it repaid the $17 billion in bailout funds it had received from the government during the financial crisis. Shares have since fallen about 15%. The Treasury fully exited its stake in the company in December.

Write to Lisa Beilfuss at [e-mail]

Access Investor Kit for Ally Financial, Inc.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US02005N1000

Access Investor Kit for General Motors Co.

Visit http://www.companyspotlight.com/partner?cp_code=P479&isin=US37045V1008

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires