BBCN in Los Angeles Fills Vacant CEO Post

BBCN Bancorp (BBCN) in Los Angeles has filled the leadership left open by Alvin Kang's resignation as president and chief executive earlier this year.

Kevin Kim, BBCN's chairman, was given Kang's titles, effective immediately, the company said Thursday. BBCN is finalizing its selection of a president and chief executive for its bank, the company said in a press release.

An executive council had handled managerial duties since Alvin Kang resigned in January. The resignation ignited speculation that BBCN, the nation's largest Korean-American bank with $5.8 billion in assets, would try to buy Hanmi Financial (HAFC), which had recently announced that it had hired an investment bank to consider a sale.

Kim was a director of Center Financial from 2008 through the December 2011 merger with Nara Bancorp that created BBCN. Kang had been Nara's president and chief executive before the merger.

BBCN also named a new chief financial officer and a new lead independent director. Douglas Goddard will become CFO of BBCN on March 31, succeeding Philip Guldeman, who is resigning, a company spokesman said. Goddard has been deputy chief financial officer since BBCN was formed; he was a former CFO at Center Financial.

BBCN Bancorp Vice Chairman Scott Yoon-Suk Whang became the company's lead independent director, which is a new role at the company. Whang had been a director at Nara Bancorp since 2007 and was the company's lead negotiator for its merger with Center.