WEST
Saehan Bancorp, which caters to Korean-Americans in Los Angeles, has hired Benjamin Hong, a banking veteran with long ties to that community, as its president and chief executive officer.
Mr. Hong had been the president and CEO of Nara Bancorp until last year. He took the reins of that company in 1994, when it was on the brink of failure, and oversaw its climb from $50 million of assets to $1.3 billion by the time he left for good early last year. (Mr. Hong initially retired from those posts in 2003 but returned a few months later when his successor resigned.)
Before joining Nara he had been the president and CEO of Hanmi Financial Corp.
Earlier he had been the director of international finance at Northrop Corp., a Los Angeles shipbuilder and defense contractor now named Northrop Grumman Corp., and a senior vice president at First Interstate Bank.
Saehan Bancorp owns the $495 million-asset Saehan Bank.
MIDWESTFirst Federal of Northern Michigan Bancorp. Inc. of Alpena has made a series of management changes at the company and its $277 million-asset thrift unit, First Federal of Northern Michigan.
Michael W. Mahler has been promoted to president and chief operating officer at the unit and the parent. He had been the executive vice president, secretary, and treasurer since 2004, and the chief financial officer for two years before that.
The COO title is newly created, but as the president he succeeded Martin A. Thomson, who will remain the chief executive officer.
Jerome W. Tracey was named the executive vice president and the chief lending officer at the unit and the parent. He had been a senior vice president and senior lender since 2001. Before that he had been the vice president of commercial services.
Amy E. Essex was named the treasurer and secretary of the unit and the parent. She will remain the CFO, a job she has held since 2004. Before that she had been the internal auditor and compliance officer.
SOUTHWESTAmegy Bank of Houston has promoted Debbie Gibson from senior to executive vice president.
Ms. Gibson remains the head of the trust department, a job she has had since joining the $7.9 billion-asset unit of Amegy Bancorp. Inc. in 2002.
She has 30 years of banking experience.
Sterling Bank of Houston has hired John A. Rossitto, a veteran local banker, as an executive vice president and the chief executive officer of retail banking, a newly created job.
Graham Painter, the director of corporate communications at Sterling, which is primarily a business bank, said it hopes to leverage Mr. Rossitto's 37 years of area experience to help its burgeoning retail business.
Mr. Rossitto was the Texas CEO for Trustmark National Bank, an $8.2 billion-asset unit of Trustmark Corp. of Jackson, Miss. Before that he had been a senior vice president and the Houston market manager for Bank One Corp., which JPMorgan Chase & Co. bought in 2004.
He began his banking career in Houston in 1969 at Bank of the Southwest, which, after a series of acquisitions, became part of Bank One.
Sterling Bank is a $3.7 billion-asset unit of Sterling Bancshares Inc.
SOUTHEASTVirginia Commerce Bank of Arlington has made John P. Perseo Jr. its head of operations and technology and promoted him to executive vice president.
Mr. Perseo had been the senior vice president of information technology since joining the $1.5 billion-asset unit of Virginia Commerce Bancorp Inc. last year. He has 33 years of banking experience.
