Farmers & Merchants Bank of Long Beach announced key changes to its executive management team and promotions to new roles, reinforcing the bank’s strategic vision and next stage of growth and development.
The transition marks the culmination of F&M’s succession plan and creates a new role, Executive Chairman of the Board, independent of the Chief Executive Officer.
Daniel K. Walker, currently Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, has been appointed to the new role of Executive Chairman of the Board; W. Henry Walker, current President, has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer; and Kevin M. Tiber, currently Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, was promoted to President and Chief Investment Officer.
Additionally, Kathleen Salmons, Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer, was promoted to Executive Vice President, Chief Risk Officer, and assumes responsibility for expanded roles and responsibilities to reflect the increased importance of risk management in financial institutions.
Effective Jan. 1, 2024, Taylor L. Hoang will be promoted to Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, succeeding John W.H. Hinrichs, who is retiring from the Bank at the end of the year after serving as its CFO since 2000 and joining the Bank in 1964.
“The realignment of our executive management roles signifies a natural progression, as the Bank enters its 117th year,” said Daniel Walker, who joined F&M in 1974 and served as CEO since 2012. “Providing rewarding career paths and promoting from within have always been hallmarks of F&M. We are proud of the depth of our executive team, which has never wavered from the Bank’s objective of serving our business and consumer clients and supporting communities in which we operate. I also want to express gratitude to John Hinrichs for his many achievements over nearly six decades of serving the Bank and for his contributions toward making F&M the solid Bank it is today. We will miss John’s wisdom and camaraderie and know that our financial team will continue to build upon and assure F&M’s historic track record of success and stability,” he added.
“John Hinrichs’ retirement and the executive promotions represent an orderly, planned succession within our organization,” said Henry Walker, newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, who served as F&M’s President since 2012. “Our bench is deep, and our staff members have long tenures with the Bank and a deep understanding of our operations and culture, which will make for a seamless transition. On behalf of our board of directors and entire team, we are grateful for the many years of devoted service John provided to F&M, and we wish him all the best in his well-deserved retirement.”
The Team
Daniel K. Walker has been a director of the Bank since 1996 and its Chairman of the Board since 2003. He has served F&M in numerous capacities, including Executive Vice President from 2001 to January 2008, when he was appointed President.
W. Henry Walker began his career with F&M in 1983 as a teller. During his 36-year tenure at the Bank, he has been involved with every department and integral in strategic planning and vision. He has served in many roles, including as an Executive Vice President and as Chief Credit Officer. Under his leadership, F&M instituted new programs to grow assets and to further expand the customer base.
Kevin M. Tiber has served as the Bank’s Executive Vice President since June 2019. Previously, he was a Senior Vice President of the Bank, a position he held since January 2000. He has served in numerous capacities at F&M since joining the Bank in 1993.
Kathleen Salmons joined F&M in 2013 as Senior Vice President & Chief Risk Officer, following roles as First Vice President, Finance at Beach Business Bank and Vice President Finance at Citigroup. In her expanded role at F&M, she will lead a realigned organization to create a robust enterprise risk management structure, identifying and mitigating risk throughout the Bank, and be responsible for risk governance and operations, model risk management, vendor management, BSA/AML, compliance, Bank security, fraud, and appraisal and environmental management.
Taylor L. Hoang, a Certified Public Accountant, assumes her new role after serving as F&M’s Senior Vice President and Senior Financial Officer since 2008, where she held responsibility for the Bank’s financial reporting, budgeting and planning, among other financial management functions. She joined F&M in 2007 as First Vice President, and previously held financial management positions at Wyle Laboratories and Hawthorne Savings and was a senior audit manager with KMPG LLP.
John W.H Hinrichs, who retires from the Bank at the end of 2023, has served as the Bank’s Executive Vice President, Cashier and Chief Financial Officer since 2000 and has been employed by the Bank in various capacities since 1964. He is the recipient of the Orange County Business Journal and California Society of Certified Accountants CFO Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of the CFO who has made outstanding contributions to their company’s performance and to the Orange County Business Community.