Urban Partnership Bank, formerly ShoreBank, names new directors

Urban Partnership Bank, which rose out of the ashes last week of failed ShoreBank, has created a board of directors that has five members so far.

In addition to the two top bank managers of David Vitale and William Farrow, the board currently includes Eileen Kennedy, Daniel Lupiani and Jerome Szott, according to a Friday report on the Chicago Tribune's Web site.

An Urban Partnership Bank spokesman said Friday that the final size of the board has not yet been determined.

Mr. Vitale, a former First Chicago Corp. senior executive, helped create Urban Partnership Bank out of ShoreBank, which was seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. last week.

He is Urban Partnership Bank's executive chairman. Mr. Farrow is Urban Partnership Bank's president and chief executive officer.

ShoreBank was unable to avoid failure despite lining up $150 million in private investments in hopes of securing another $75 million in federal bailout funds. The plan for federal funds ran aground after the Federal Reserve board said that the sum wouldn't be enough to keep the bank solvent over the long haul.

Ms. Kennedy and Mr. Lupiani are former First Chicago executives and Mr. Szott a former employee of National Bank of Detroit, the Tribune reported.