At Washington Mutual (WaMu), Corcoran will oversee all facets of the company's retail banking franchise, including its network of more than 2,100 retail banking stores and more than 30,000 employees, small business banking, consumer lending, financial services and all retail products and banking operations. He will report to company President and Chief Operating Officer Steve Rotella and will be a member of the company's Executive Committee.

"James is an outstanding addition to Washington Mutual," said Rotella. "He has a proven track record of driving significant organic customer growth along with bottom line results. His strong combination of sales and marketing expertise and exceptional operating skills will accelerate the momentum of our retail banking franchise in rapidly growing households, improving productivity and cross-selling. James is also an energetic catalyst for innovation and creativity. We're excited to add his considerable skills and talents to WaMu's executive team."

Corcoran joined HBoS in 2000. He was responsible for its branch retail system and all non-branch distribution channels, including customer call centers, E-commerce, and real estate brokerage and financial planning operations. At HBoS, Corcoran oversaw a retail banking team of 32,000 employees and grew the company's card business from one to four million customers in three years. The HBoS Group has 22 million customers and a relationship with 2 out of every 5 households in the UK. In the company's banking unit, more people in the UK switch their current account to HBoS than any other bank (21%).

"I'm really excited to be joining WaMu and look forward to helping drive further expansion and growth," said Corcoran. "Our continued success will be built upon delivering superior value and convenience to our customers."

Prior to joining HBoS, Corcoran was the president of the UK Card Business at Bank One/First USA and was Managing Director of Global Sales at Citigroup, New York, where he was responsible for developing the bank's worldwide retail banking distribution network. He also served as head of Marketing for IBM's Consumer Business in New York. Corcoran began his career at American Express. He started as a sales executive and over his 15 years there rose through the ranks, including senior assignments in New York and Australia, to become senior vice president of Card Marketing for the company's European operations.