Friendly Hills Bank Expands Executive Team

On May 17, Friendly Hills Bank (FHB) announced it is bolstering its executive suite with a spate of new hires.

The growing community bank, which operates locations in Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties and the Inland Empire, added four experienced leaders to the executive team, which is led by President and CEO Nathan Rogge who took the reins of FHB in December of last year.

“We are proud of the executive team we have assembled and believe it reflects the board’s commitment to further growing the bank while continuing to drive value — for our customers, our communities and our shareholders,” Rogge said. “These leaders bring extensive experience and proven track records for leading key business functions. Together, we will continue our focus on building Southern California’s premier community bank and driving that next level of growth.”

The new hires to the FHB leadership are as follows:

James Burgess will be joining the bank as executive vice president and chief financial officer. Burgess, a CPA, comes to FHB with 38 years of industry experience. Most recently, he served as executive vice president, chief financial officer and deputy chief financial officer at Bank of Southern California. Prior to that, he held similar positions at several San Diego banks, including 1st Pacific Bank of California, Bank of Commerce, Rancho Vista National Bank and San Diego First Bank.

Robert A. Marshall joins FHB as executive vice president and chief credit officer, bringing 30 years of community banking experience – most recently as Bank of Southern California’s executive vice president and chief credit officer/chief lending officer. Marshall also has extensive ties to San Diego having held positions at Santa Fe National Bank, La Jolla Bank & Trust and California Community Bank, where he served as the bank’s founding chief credit officer.

Azim Sheikh will serve as FHB’s executive vice president and chief information and technology officer, where he will bring experience in information technology, including a focus on IT risk management, information systems auditing and information security. Sheikh previously served as chief information security officer at Nano Bank and during his career has held positions at Ernst & Young, UHY Advisors, DirecTV, Fox Interactive Media, and East West Bank, where he held the office of first vice president of enterprise IT risk management

Paulette Silva joins FHB as executive vice president and chief administration officer. She has over 40 years of local banking experience, most recently, as executive vice president and chief administration officer at Pacific Enterprise Bank. Silva has also held positions at U.S. Bank, Pacific Century Bank and Pacific Community Credit Union.

Staying on as executive vice president and chief operating officer is Elizabeth M. Buckingham, who joined FHB in 2006 after serving in senior-level positions at Bank of Orange County, Union Bank, Bank of Industry, Bank of Whittier and First State Bank.