Ogden Resigns Continental Illinois Post

William S. Ogden, chairman and chief executive of Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Co., will resign Aug. 13, the bank’s holding company announced Thursday.

The announcement comes three months after John E. Swearingen, the holding company’s chairman and CEO, said he would pass over Ogden, 59, for his own job and would put off his retirement until finding a successor.

Officials of the banking concern are not commenting about the reason for the resignation, said Holly Anderson, a spokeswoman for the holding company, Chicago-based Continental Illinois Corp.

Ogden and Swearingen are both part of a team of bank officials the federal government hired three years ago during a multimillion-dollar bailout to avert Continental Illinois’ financial collapse.

Ogden will also resign as a director of the bank and as president and a director of the holding company, the announcement said.

No replacement has been named, and Ogden’s responsibilities will be assumed by Swearingen, the release said.

“Bill Ogden’s banking expertise has been a valuable element in restoring Continental’s vitality since he and I joined the organization three years ago,” Swearingen said. “He will be missed by everyone in the corporation as it continues to build for the future.”

Ogden was quoted as saying, “Continental Bank has come back a long way from three years ago when the regulators of the U.S. banking system asked me to join the bank. I am pleased with what has been accomplished and proud of the Continental Bank people who have worked hard to make this happen.”

Before joining Continental, Ogden served for 31 years at Chase Manhattan Corp. He retired in February, 1983, as vice chairman of the board and chief financial officer of both Chase Manhattan Corp. and its banking subsidiary, Chase Manhattan Bank.