Mr. Black was appointed by the Board as Executive Vice Chair of the Company and the Bank effective as of April 13, 2026. From July 2024 to the effective date of his appointment, Mr. Black focused on managing his personal investments. From 2020 to 2024, Mr. Black served as Executive Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development at PacWest Bancorp and Banc of California, reporting directly to the Chief Executive Officer, where he led M&A activity, corporate strategy, and crisis management, including securing $1.4 billion in emergency financing during the 2023 banking crisis and overseeing the sale of PacWest to Banc of California. Prior to that, Mr. Black was the Founder and Managing Partner of Consector Capital, LP, a long/short financial services sector hedge fund, from 2007 to 2020. Earlier in his career, he held roles at Castle Creek Capital, Second Curve Capital, Putnam Lovell Securities, and Salomon Smith Barney. Mr. Black holds a B.A. in Economics from The Johns Hopkins University. Mr. Black s extensive experience in mergers and acquisitions, corporate strategy, and capital markets transactions, including his leadership in connection with multiple complex bank acquisitions and his role in navigating a large regional bank through the 2023 banking crisis, provides the Board with valuable expertise in strategic planning, risk oversight, and transaction execution.