Columbus-based Huntington Bancshares has announced the appointment of Kevin Blakely as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer. Mr. Blakely will succeed Jim Nelson, who is returning to the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago as of June 15.

Mr. Blakely had served as President and CEO of The Risk Management Association, where he often represented the financial services industry on matters of financial risk management. Blakely also held multiple risk positions at KeyCorp beginning in 1990, where he established several measures to more effectively manage risks and improve governance practices. Bringing nearly 35 years of financial services experience, he began his career at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), where he held a variety of management positions.

Stephen Steinour, Chairman, President and CEO of Huntington, said: “Huntington recognizes the crucial role strong risk oversight plays in our business. Kevin Blakely is well known in the industry as an early pioneer of establishing enterprise-wide risk management practices and has a very good record of enhancing corporate governance and risk management processes. We are very pleased to have Kevin’s expertise and leadership in this critical role. Kevin will directly report to me.

Huntington Bancshares, parent company of Huntington National Bank, is a $52 billion regional bank holding company.