ResCap Shuffles Executive Team

It didn’t take long for the ex-Bear Stearns mortgage hands to move to the front of the pack at Residential Capital, LLC, with GMAC Financial Services announcing Tuesday that Thomas Marano had been named chairman and chief executive officer, effective immediately, replacing current CEO Jim Jones. The company said in a press statement that Jones “had elected to leave” — it didn’t, however, say whether he did so on his own volition.

Marano will remain a Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. employee — Cerberus owns a majority stake in ResCap, after all — and will report to GMAC CEO Alvaro de Molina.

“Tom brings extensive experience in the mortgage and capital markets to ResCap at this critically important time for the company,” said de Molina. “Under Tom’s leadership, ResCap will continue to execute our ongoing plan to streamline the business and focus on core mortgage lending and servicing businesses in the U.S. and select international markets.”

Marano was appointed to the ResCap board as non-executive chairman in April 2008, at which time he also joined Cerberus as a managing director.

Marano is well-known in the industry for his more than 25 years at Bear Stearns & Co., Inc., most recently heading the global operations of mortgage trading and originations and serving on the company’s board of directors, prior to the company’s bailout at the hands of the Federal Reserve and JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM: 32.27 -4.44%).

ResCap also said it had promoted Josh Weintraub into the role of ResCap vice chairman; Weintraub joined the company along with Marano, so his rise shouldn’t come as a surprise. The company also named Tony Renzi to the post of COO, while snagging Jerry Lombardo from Cerberus and installing his as company treasurer. Former treasurer Bill Casey “left the company,” per the press statement.

“These management moves will further bolster the leadership team at ResCap and provide a diverse set of talents and skill sets as we work to stabilize the company and weather the near-term market challenges,” said de Molina. “As we make this transition, we thank Jim for his leadership at ResCap in executing a major restructuring of the business and managing efforts to reduce risk and preserve liquidity.”

In early June, ResCap completed a a $60 billion refinancing that saved it from the brink of bankruptcy, as the company has found itself swamped by bad loans.

For more information, visit http://www.gmacfs.com.