Live Oak Bank's former president will leave the organization at the end of this week. Scott Custer, who serves in a senior position within Live Oak Bancshares, informed Live Oak officials Nov. 19 that he would resign effective Nov. 30. The news was disclosed that same day by Live Oak in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
 
Custer joined Live Oak Bank as its president in early April 2017 and continued in that role until Sept. 24 of this year, when Live Oak brought in Huntley Garriott, a Goldman Sachs Investment Division partner, to head the bank.
 
Custer is involved with a new community bank startup. Last July, a group of banking professionals proposed launching a Raleigh-based community bank, Dogwood State Bank, and stated in a news release that Custer would be the new venture's board chairman. The de novo bank has since won approval from the FDIC to move forward.
 
Such a central role in a bank startup would draw on Custer's significant experience.
 
Custer came to Live Oak from F.N.B. Corp., where he served as a director and consultant after the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based bank’s merger with North Carolina-based Yadkin Bank.
 
He began his banking career with Wachovia, later becoming a commercial banking manager with First Union National Bank. He then served as chairman and CEO of RBC Bank (USA) from 2004 to 2010, a period in which RBC (USA)’s assets grew from $15 billion to $30 billion, and the bank expanded geographically.
 
In 2010, Custer became a director and CEO of Piedmont Community Bank Holdings Inc. The next year, he became a director and CEO of VantageSouth Bancshares Inc. and VantageSouth Bank, serving in that capacity until the merger of Yadkin, VantageSouth and Piedmont in 2014.

Under Custer’s leadership, Yadkin and its predecessors grew from a start-up bank in 2010 to an institution with assets of approximately $7.5 billion before its merger with F.N.B., according to a company release at that time.