KeyBank hires Danahy to expand mortgage operations

KeyBank says it wants to expand and grow its residential-mortgage business. It has selected Mark R. Danahy, former Citibank managing director and head of originations, to take on that task as president of KeyBank Mortgage.

Danahy will report to E.J. Burke, co-president of Key’s Community Bank.

“Mark is an innovative, strategic leader who knows the mortgage business from top to bottom, from sales through to servicing,” Burke said in a news release. “He has the acumen and imagination to develop fair, convenient and competitive mortgage solutions for KeyBank’s clients across our 12-state banking footprint.”

Danahy was responsible for U.S. mortgage strategy at Citibank, then the fifth largest U.S.-based mortgage company, according to the KeyBank release. Before joining Citi, he was president and CEO for PHH Mortgage, then the fourth largest retail originator of residential mortgage loans in the nation. Danahy has more than 25 years of experience in the mortgage industry.

He received his bachelor’s degree from Virginia Tech, where he majored in accounting. Danahy earned his MBA degree from George Mason University.

KeyBank, headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, had $2.23 billion in residential mortgage loans as of Dec. 31, 2014, up 0.5 percent from the previous quarter and up 1.7 percent from a year earlier. That’s according to parent company KeyCorp’s fourth-quarter earnings report issued Jan. 22.

KeyBank, ranked third in deposit market share in the 16-county Central New York area, with a share of less than 9 percent, as of June 30, 2014, according to the latest FDIC data available.

KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) had total assets of nearly $94 billion at the end of 2014.