BUFFALO, NY, February 22, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Financial Institutions, Inc. FISI (the “Company”), the parent company of Five Star Bank (the “Bank”), SDN Insurance Agency, LLC, Courier Capital, LLC and HNP Capital, LLC, announced today that Gary Pacos has joined the Bank as Chief Risk Officer is (“CRO”). In his role, Mr. Pacos will be responsible for all aspects of the organization’s risk management function, including identifying, measuring, monitoring and managing risk across the business.

Mr. Pacos comes to Five Star Bank with 34 years of progressive banking experience and spent the first 17 years of his career in compliance, consumer credit, auditing and operations at HSBC Bank USA. In 2006, Mr. Pacos assumed the position of Deputy Chief Compliance Officer at M&T Bank and then moved to First Niagara Bank where he was promoted to Chief Compliance Officer. Following Key Bank’s acquisition of First Niagara, he remained with Key Bank until 2020 as SVP, Compliance Executive for Fair & Responsible Banking, Risk Evaluation & Assurance, overseeing fair lending and compliance testing.

For the past two and a half years, Mr. Pacos has served as Chief Compliance Officer for Bank OZK, a public bank based in Little Rock, AR with assets in excess of $27 billion. He made significant contributions to strengthening their compliance management systems, working closely with regulators and supervisors on behalf of the bank and leading and developing a team of professionals.

In addition to his banking career, Mr. Pacos had a distinguished career serving our country in the US Army as a Senior Army Aviator, rising to the rank of Major. He continued his service to our country for many years, remaining in the New York Army National Guard until his final retirement in 2008.

A native of West New York, Mr. Pacos works in Five Star Bank’s Buffalo Regional Office in Amherst. He is a graduate of the State University of New York, Fredonia.

Mr. Pacos succeeds Randy Phillips, who chose to…