President of Hampton Roads Bankshares resigns

NORFOLK

Three and a half months after becoming president of Hampton Roads Bankshares Inc., D. Ben Berry resigned abruptly, the Norfolk-based banking company confirmed Wednesday.

Berry, the former chairman and chief executive officer of Gateway Financial Holdings Inc., helped organize Gateway Bank & Trust Co. in 1998. He oversaw a decade of rapid expansion before Hampton Roads Bankshares acquired the bank and its parent at the end of last year.

A Hertford, N.C., native who earlier worked for Centura Bank, Berry had been chairman and CEO of Gateway and Virginia Beach-based Gateway Financial until the merger with Hampton Roads Bankshares.

In a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Hampton Roads Bankshares said Berry's resignation was effective immediately. Berry also resigned from the boards of Hampton Roads Bankshares and its Gateway Bank & Trust subsidiary.

Jack W. Gibson, vice chairman and CEO of Hampton Roads Bankshares, said Berry's departure had been amicable and had not been sought by Hampton Roads Bankshares.

"Ben is a very good banker and worked hard to help us accomplish the merger," Gibson said. "I accepted his resignation with regret."

He declined to elaborate and referred questions to Berry, who could not be reached for comment.

Berry, 54, signed an agreement with Hampton Roads Bankshares in December that barred him from competing with the company for one year if he left. As part of the agreement, he received $500,000.

Gateway and Hampton Roads Bankshares struck their merger agreement in September after Gateway's capital was sharply reduced by losses on its holdings of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stock.

That required Gateway to find additional capital. The Treasury Department took control of Fannie and Freddie in September amid concerns that the mortgage-finance giants might collapse.

Hampton Roads Bankshares is the parent of Bank of Hampton Roads, Shore Bank on the Eastern Shore, and Gateway. Its assets totaled $3.08 billion at the end of last year.

The company's board has not yet addressed whether Berry's position will be filled, Gibson said.

Tom Shean, (757) 446-2379, tom.shean@pilotonline.com