Community West in California Names New Interim CEO

Community West Bancshares (CWBC) in Goleta, Calif., has yet another chief executive, marking its third CEO in less than a year.

The company said in a regulatory filing Friday that Martin E. Plourd has become acting president CEO following the Thursday resignation of William R. Peeples. The $633 million-asset company said that Peeples, who will remain the chairman, did not resign because of "any disagreement with the company relating to its operations, policies or practices."

Peeples has been Community West's interim president and CEO since Lynda J. Nahra resigned in July.

Plourd was named the president and CEO of unit Community West Bank in November. His appointment as the company's acting president and CEO requires regulatory approval.

Plourd was chief operating office and then president of Temecula Valley Bank in California from July 2005 to July 2009, when the bank was closed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. He also spent 18 years with Rabobank and its predecessor, Valley Independent Bank in El Centro, Calif.

Community West recently said it was closing four out-of-state U.S. Small Business Administration lending offices as part of a plan to reduce risk and improve its overall health. The company, which lost $8.6 million in the fourth quarter, has been operating under an enforcement action with its federal regulator since January.