CIT Appoints Walter J. Owens as New Chief Sales Officer

NEW YORK, March 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CIT Group Inc. , a leading provider of commercial and consumer finance solutions, announced today the appointment of Walter J. Owens as Executive Vice President, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer. In this newly-created position, Mr. Owens will assume responsibility for overseeing CIT's sales organization across all of the company's business units, effective immediately. He will report directly to Jeffrey M. Peek, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer.

"We are pleased to have Walter Owens lead our efforts to further build a sales and growth culture that matches the unrivaled excellence of our risk and credit culture," Mr. Peek said. "Walter brings a solid understanding of the marketplace and substantial experience in building market share and presence. He also possesses the credibility and experience to work in partnership with our business leaders to formulate strategic sales plans that achieve our goals for growth."

"I am excited to join CIT, a proven industry leader that is committed to re-energizing its focus on building long-term, profitable relationships with its customers," Mr. Owens said. "I look forward to working with and across CIT's businesses to help build a market-focused, best-in-class sales organization."

Mr. Owens recently served as Chief Marketing Officer for GE Commercial Finance where he was responsible for executing growth strategies for existing and new products and markets. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Owens held a number of key roles at GE including leading the Heller integration for its GE Corporate Finance Services unit, as Managing Director of Global Securitization for GE Capital Market Services and as Managing Director and General Manager of GE Small Enterprise Services.

Before joining GE, Mr. Owens served as Vice President at Citibank's Corporate Policy & Advisory Group from 1990 to 1992. He began his career in 1982 where he held a number of positions at Deloitte, Haskins and Sells in the Accounting and Auditing Services Division. He holds an M.B.A. from New York University and a B.S. from Villanova University. Additionally, he is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

About CIT

CIT Group Inc. , a leading commercial and consumer finance company, provides clients with financing and leasing products and advisory services. Founded in 1908, CIT has nearly $60 billion in assets under management and possesses the financial resources, industry expertise and product knowledge to serve the needs of clients across approximately 30 industries. CIT, a Fortune 500 company and component of the S&P 500, holds leading positions in vendor financing, factoring, equipment and transportation financing, Small Business Administration loans, and asset-based lending. CIT, with its principal offices in Livingston, New Jersey and New York City, has approximately 6,000 employees in locations throughout North America, Europe, Latin and South America, and the Pacific Rim. For more information, visit http://www.cit.com/.