Financial Institutions Inc., the parent company of Five Star Bank, announced the appointment of Gary Pacos as chief risk officer.

Pacos, who brings 34 years of banking experience to the role, will be responsible for the risk management function.

Previously, he served as chief compliance officer at Bank OZK for the past 2 1/2 years. During the first 17 years of his career, he specialized in compliance, consumer credit, audit, and operations at HSBC Bank USA.

In 2006, Pacos took the role of deputy chief compliance officer at M&T Bank. He later joined First Niagara Bank, where he ascended to chief compliance officer. After Key Bank’s acquisition of First Niagara, he stayed on as a senior vice president and compliance executive, overseeing fair lending and compliance testing until 2020.

Pacos succeeds Randy Phillips, who elected to transition to the newly created position of deputy chief credit officer.

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