Clarke R. Starnes III

Clarke R. Starnes III is vice chair and chief risk officer at Truist Financial Corporation. He oversees Truist’s Risk Management division and is a member of the executive leadership team. He assumed the CRO role in December 2019 and was named vice chair in September 2022.

Starnes was named chief credit officer of a Truist predecessor in September 2008 and chief risk officer in January 2009. He was named to the executive leadership team in December 2006 as the specialized lending group manager. Prior to that, he served in many different roles, including business services manager, regional senior credit officer, regional loan administrator for corporate accounts, and direct retail lending risk manager.

Earlier in his career, Starnes managed the company’s loan officer development program and credit analyst department. Starnes completed the company’s Leadership Development Program in 1982.

Starnes currently serves as director of the Truist Leadership Center at East Carolina University and previously served as a director of the Consumer Bankers Association and the Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Forsyth County in North Carolina.

Starnes earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is also a graduate of the ABA Stonier Graduate School of Banking at the University of Delaware.