Xceed Mortgage Corp. (TSX: XMC), a Canadian provider of insured mortgages, has announced the appointments of two executives as the company continues its pursuit of bank status.

The company has appointed Michael Jones as interim chief operating officer and Jeff Bouganim as vice-president of finance, effective March 16, 2010. Jones will also take the position of interim president, and Bouganim will take the position of CFO, both effective May 1, 2010, following the planned departure on April 30 of the company’s current president and CFO, Karen Martin.

The leadership changes come as the company awaits approval from the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions to become a federally regulated deposit-taking institution – a move that would allow it to raise deposits through the broker network to help fund its mortgage business. Xceed applied for permission to convert into a Schedule I bank last year.

“We continue to discuss with the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions our proposed conversion to a bank,” said Ivan Wahl, chairman and CEO.

Jones has helped the company with the application process, Wahl noted. Jones was part of Xceed Mortgage’s founding management and shareholder group in 2002, and served as president and chief operating officer until early 2008, when market turmoil prompted the company to restructure.

“We are very pleased to be welcoming Michael Jones back to Xceed,” said Wahl. “During much of the past year, Michael has been working with us to assist in our preparations and the application process toward becoming Xceed Bank/Banque Xceed, a federally regulated deposit-taking institution.”

Prior to joining Xceed, Jones had extensive experience in Canada’s mortgage industry, including serving as vice-president of commercial mortgages of CIBC Mortgages Inc. from 1996 to 2002.

Bouganim is an experienced senior executive has worked in various sectors of the financial services industry, including banking, brokerage, and capital markets. Most recently, he has been providing advisory services to those launching or acquiring financial services businesses in Canada. Two of his assignments concerned establishing banking operations in Canada.

Previously, Bouganim served as CFO with Dundee Bank of Canada, including assisting with its sale to and subsequent integration with Scotiabank. Prior to that, during nearly eight years with CIBC World Markets Inc., he held the positions of vice-president and trading room controller, and then vice-president and CFO. Bouganim is a Chartered Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Schulich School of Business, York University.

Xceed reports Q1 net loss of $11.8 million

In a separate announcement on Thursday, Xceed reported results for its fiscal first quarter ended Jan. 31. The company reported a net loss of $11.8 million, compared with net income of $3.3 million in the first quarter of 2009. The loss was mainly due to an $8.1 million write down on deferred net mortgage interest receivable related to a discontinued business line of uninsured mortgages.

“The net loss that we are reporting for our first quarter is not indicative of the progress that Xceed is continuing to make in transitioning our business and in building a platform for what we expect will be future growth and the creation of value for our shareholders,” said Wahl.

IE