Manufacturers Bank, a member of SMBC Group, announced the appointment of Fred Mirzaian as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. In this newly created role, he is responsible for the overall development and transformation of operations and information technology. He reports to Sander Pruijs, President of Manufacturers Bank, and is a member of the Manufacturers Bank Management Committee. Mirzaian will report functionally to Debbie Freer, Chief Operating Officer of SMBC Group in the Americas.

Pruijs said, “Fred is joining us at an opportune time. We are counting on him to help drive us to the next level of operational performance. Fred shares our firm’s values and understands that we place high importance on our employees and they, in turn, deliver the highest standard of service to our clients. He has deep expertise in process improvement and understands how to design and transform leading-edge systems and processes. Having Fred on our team is a great next step.”

Freer said, “The hiring of Fred continues to enhance our position in the Americas.”

“Manufacturers Bank is heading into a very promising time. One of the reasons that attracted me to the firm is the opportunity to match my skills with their transformation and growth initiatives. I look forward to working with the leadership team and colleagues across the bank to build the operational excellence and technology infrastructure to support the journey,” said Mirzaian.

Mirzaian is a well-respected banking operations and IT executive and entrepreneur with more than 25 years’ experience leading information technology, enterprise IT risk management, operations, and project management as well as back-office process improvement. Most recently, he served as Senior Managing Director, Head of Banking Operations and Information Technology at East West Bank. Prior to that, he was the founder, President and CEO of a payment processing company serving the top banks and credit unions in California.

Mirzaian earned his bachelor’s degrees in computer science and business administration from the University of Redlands and completed the Global Bankers Program at the University of Washington, Michael G. Foster School of Business.

Headquartered in Los Angeles, CA, Manufacturers Bank is a subsidiary of SMBC Americas Holdings, Inc., a bank holding company wholly owned by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.