Further strengthening its growing presence in California, Citizens Financial Group announced that Michael Walker has joined the company to lead its team serving middle market companies across the state.

Walker, based in San Francisco, has more than 45 years of banking experience and most recently served as head of City National Bank’s national commercial banking enterprise. Prior to that, he was U.S. Bank’s market president of the Northern California region for 10 years.

“Michael’s strong relationships, along with his leadership qualities and experience, will help accelerate our growth in the important California market,” said Steve Woods, head of corporate banking at Citizens. “We look forward to providing more of our best-in-class ideas and solutions to the California business community.”

With nearly 270 colleagues across the state, Citizens continues to invest in top talent and solutions to support California’s businesses and residents. Walker will join Citizens’ commercial banking leadership team based in California, including Citizens JMP CEO and California President Mark Lehmann and West/Midwest Mid-Corporate Leader David Musicant. Walker’s hiring follows the recent addition of a team of top California-based wealth managers to complement a major private banking presence in Northern California.