MIDWEST
Oxford Bank Corp. in Michigan has hired C. James Bess as president and chief executive officer of the company and its Oxford Bank.
Bess will also join the board of directors of both the company and the bank. He was the president and CEO of North Country Bank and Trust in Manistique. Before that he was the president and CEO of Commercial and Savings Bank in Millersburg, Ohio. Earlier he was president and CEO of Security Dollar Bank in Niles.
Oxford Bank has $361 million of assets.
PrivateBancorp Inc. of Chicago has hired Kristine Garrett as a managing director and the head of private banking and promoted Daniel Pehrson to chief executive officer for Michigan.
Garrett was the national banking practice leader in the private wealth management division at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Before that she was the CEO of JPMorgan Chase's private client services.
Pehrson will remain a managing director and chief lending officer in the commercial banking group. He joined the $8.7 billion-asset PrivateBank in 2007 from LaSalle Bank, where he was a group senior vice president in the bank's branch in Troy, Mich.
He will succeed Patrick M. McQueen, who will remain with the bank as an adviser. McQueen had been CEO since last year and joined the bank in 1999.
MIDDLE ATLANTICWilmington Trust FSB in Delaware has promoted Charles Russella to president of its retirement and institutional services unit of the company's corporate client services business.
Russella was a senior vice president and sales manager for the institutional services unit. He joined Wilmington Trust when it bought his previous employer, AST Capital Trust Co., in 2008. At AST he was an executive vice president and sales manager. Earlier he worked in U.S. Bancorp's retirement services division.
Russella succeeded Gregory W. Tschider, who left the company to pursue new opportunities. Russella will report to Bill Farrell, the executive vice president of Wilmington Trust and the head of corporate client services.
WESTCity National Bank of Los Angeles has hired Mary Helmich as senior vice president and manager of its preferred banking business.
Helmich was a regional executive at Bank of America, overseeing the Los Angeles and Inland Valley markets. Before that she worked in the premier banking division. Earlier she was a sales and customer service manager in the consumer banking and investment services division. She worked at B of A for 24 years.
City National has $16.9 billion of assets.
