LOS ANGELES, Sept. 8, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- City National Bank, California's Premier Private and Business Bank(r), has expanded its Fremont commercial banking team to meet the lending and financial services needs of middle-market companies and mid-sized businesses, nonprofits and government entities located in the greater South Bay region.
The team is based at City National's Fremont Commercial Banking Center, located at 2201 Walnut Avenue in Fremont. The banking center offers a full range of products and services including credit, cash management, deposit, international banking and investment and trust services. It also makes available to commercial banking clients, entrepreneurs, employees and investors a variety of private banking and personal wealth management services.
In the Bay Area, City National maintains regional banking centers in Oakland, Palo Alto, San Francisco and Walnut Creek. It has additional banking offices in Burlingame and San Leandro.
Leading the new group is Senior Vice President and Manager David Walker, who had served as regional president of First Bank's Bay Area commercial/middle market banking group since 1999. He is joined by Vice President Sanford Topham, who also served with First Bank, where he was regional vice president of its San Jose commercial banking office.
(For an image of Walker, go to http://www.cnb.com/images/photos/David_Walker.jpg. For an image of Topham, go to http://www.cnb.com/images/photos/San_Topham.jpg.)
Peter Palsson, who currently serves as a commercial banking vice president and senior relationship manager in City National's Fremont Commercial Banking Center, also will report to Walker.
The South Bay team reports to Arlene Gould, senior vice president and regional manager, Commercial Banking Services, and will work closely with Robert Brant, executive vice president and Northern California regional executive.
"David and San bring to City National a record of success providing banking services to middle-market companies throughout the South Bay," said Brant. "The South Bay's diverse economic and industrial base makes it an especially attractive market for City National. Our expertise and extensive range of services make us well-suited to meeting the needs of the region's middle-market businesses."
David Walker
David Walker is senior vice president and manager, Commercial Banking Services, South Bay Region. During his nine-year career at First Bank, he was responsible for loan and deposit growth, portfolio management and underwriting in that bank's largest market, which included offices in San Jose, San Rafael and Walnut Creek. Before that, he served with Comerica Bank as a vice president specializing in business-to-business development and as a senior vice president and regional sales director at Saratoga National Bank.
From 1987 until 1994, he held a variety of vice president positions with Bank of America at its San Jose regional commercial banking office and statewide sales and marketing and dealer corporate services departments. He earlier served as vice president and manager of the former First Interstate Bank's consumer collections group.
A resident of San Jose, Calif., Walker earned a bachelor's degree from the McIntyre School of Business at the University of Virginia.
He is a former president of the San Jose Downtown Association, a former trustee of the San Jose Downtown Foundation and a founding member of the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce.
Sanford Topham
Sanford ("San") Topham is vice president and senior relationship manager. At First Bank since 2000, he was regional vice president responsible for all commercial banking and real estate banking relationships in the San Jose region. He earlier held commercial banking and credit analyst positions at Sumitomo Bank and Comerica Bank. He also served two years as director of finance and controller at AlphaSmart, a Cupertino, Calif.-based computer manufacturer.
A resident of Fremont, Topham earned a bachelor's degree in finance from Michigan State University and an MBA from the Marriott School of Management at Brigham Young University.
Topham is an in-classroom volunteer with Junior Achievement in San Jose and serves as vice president and chief financial officer of Nepal Hope, a humanitarian relief agency.
About City National
City National Bank is the wholly owned subsidiary of City National Corporation (NYSE:CYN). It is backed by $16.3 billion in total assets, and provides banking, investment and trust services through 62 offices, including 15 full-service regional centers, in Southern California, the San Francisco Bay Area, Nevada and New York City. The company and its eight majority-owned investment affiliates manage or administer $53.5 billion in client investment assets, including nearly $34 billion under direct management.
For more information about City National, visit the company's Website at cnb.com.
The City National Bank logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=3143