Downey S&L; Executive VP Boyles Resigns

David L. Boyles, a banker hired by Downey Savings & Loan to revamp its operations, unexpectedly quit as executive vice president and chief operating officer, officials of the thrift said Thursday.

Boyles, who joined the institution only last February, told Downey officials that he would return to Seattle to manage a high-technology firm in which he has had a “substantial” ownership interest.

He said in a letter Tuesday to Downey executives that his company was in “a critical growth phase” and that “now seems to be the right time to return to Seattle and help build the company.”

Jane Wolfe, a 15-year veteran at Downey, will take over as acting chief operating officer of the thrift, said Downey spokesman John Dennis.

Boyles, a banker in Seattle before joining Bank of America in San Francisco, had been developing consumer lending programs and working on new marketing techniques, and much of that work will be continued, Dennis said.

Boyles was the heir apparent to Downey’s aging leadership and was expected to turn Downey into a bank-like operation. Maurice A. McAlister, Downey’s president, had even said the thrift would likely be converted into a bank at some point.

But Downey’s healthy balance sheet and earnings, coupled with growing troubles in the banking industry, are causing directors to rethink their plans for wholesale changes at the thrift.

Downey, which has $4 billion in assets and 49 branches, earned $28.7 million in the first nine months of this year.