Live Oak Bancshares, Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Michael J. Cairns as Chief Credit Officer, effective August 1, 2024. Cairns will serve as CCO for both Live Oak Bancshares and Live Oak Bank and succeeds Steven J. Smits who has served in the position for 9 years. Smits is taking on a new role as head of commercial banking.

Cairns previously served as Head of Credit and has been with Live Oak since 2015. He brings deep experience in banking with a career focused on commercial banking roles including credit, lending, and underwriting across small- and middle-market commercial and industrial (C&I), commercial real estate (CRE), and asset-based lending (ABL). Prior to joining Live Oak, Cairns spent a decade in lending and credit roles at TCF National Bank and Talmer Bank & Trust in his native Michigan.

Cairns holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in finance with a specialty in banking and financial services, in addition to a Master of Science degree in finance, from Walsh College in Troy, MI. Smits, who joined Live Oak in 2012, will take on a new role leading commercial banking, which includes both the Specialty and Energy and Infrastructure teams.