Ally Names Halmy CFO as Mackey Plans Departure

   By Andrew R. Johnson 
 

Ally Financial Inc. said Monday that its corporate treasurer Christopher Halmy will become chief financial officer of the government-owned auto lender in November as current CFO James Mackey leaves the company for another career opportunity.

Mr. Halmy will assume the CFO role on Nov. 8, the same day Mr. Mackey is set to leave, Ally said.

Mr. Halmy has been corporate treasurer since June 2011 and joined Ally in 2009. Before that, he held several treasury and finance positions at Bank of America Corp. (BAC), Merrill Lynch, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and other firms.

In the CFO role, Mr. Halmy will report to Jeffrey Brown, senior executive vice president of finance and corporate planning for Ally.

Mr. Mackey, who has been CFO since June 2011, has been with Ally since 2009. Ally did not say where Mr. Mackey was going after leaving the company.

The management announcement comes as Chief Executive Officer Michael Carpenter is preparing the company for a possible initial public offering that could allow the U.S. Treasury Department to sell its majority stake in Ally.

Ally, the former in-house financing arm of General Motors Co. (GM), is 74% owned by the U.S. government after receiving a $17.2 billion bailout during the financial crisis.

Ally's exposure to mortgage liabilities has prevented the company from moving forward on efforts to get out from government ownership, though Ally has taken several steps in the last two years to try to eliminate those hurdles.

Its subprime mortgage subsidiary, Residential Capital LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May 2012, a move intended to help Ally separate itself from billions of dollars of liabilities tied to mortgage bonds. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in June approved a $2.1 billion settlement Ally reached with ResCap and the subsidiary's creditors that largely shields Ally from such liabilities.

The company also announced a plan in August to raise $1 billion by selling common stock to about 12 investors in a bid to raise its capital levels. In conjunction with the transaction, Ally is seeking the Federal Reserve's approval to purchase about $5.9 billion of preferred shares held by Treasury, which would reduce the government's ownership in the company to about 65%.

Following those moves, an IPO that would allow Treasury to sell its remaining stake could be possible, Mr. Carpenter has said.

Write to Andrew R. Johnson at [e-mail]

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