Alta Alliance Bank Founder Joins Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Board of Directors

Business Wire, Jan 28, 2008

SAN FRANCISCO -- Arnold T. Grisham, organizing founder, president and CEO of Alta Alliance Bank in Oakland, California, joins the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's board of directors for a three-year term beginning January 1, 2008.

Mr. Grisham has over 28 years of banking experience, including 18 years at Wells Fargo & Company. His banking background also includes positions as president, chief operating officer and chief lending officer of Civic Bank of Commerce, where he was also a member of the board of the bank and the holding company, Civic BanCorp.

Mr. Grisham is a director on the board of The Children's Hospital of Oakland and an advisory board member for The United Negro College Fund of Northern California. Mr. Grisham is a graduate of DePaul University in Chicago where he also earned an M.B.A. in finance.

Each of the nation's 12 Federal Reserve Banks has a nine-member board of directors, three of whom are appointed by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System as class C directors. The remaining six (three class A and three class B directors) are elected by the District's member banks. Class A directors are drawn from the banking community. Class B and C directors are individuals chosen from professions outside the banking community and typically represent business, industry, agriculture, labor and consumers. Mr. Grisham joins as a class A director, replacing Daniel Myers of Bridge Bank, N.A., who declined his election to the board for personal reasons.

The remainder of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco board includes:

David K.Y. Tang, (chairman) K&L Gates, Seattle, WA. Mr. Tang is a class C director.

T. Gary Rogers, (deputy chairman) Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Inc. (Retired), Oakland, CA. Mr. Rogers is a class C director.

Karla S. Chambers, Stahlbush Island Farms, Inc., Corvallis, OR. Mrs. Chambers is a class B director.

William D. Jones, CityLink Investment Corporation, San Diego, CA. Mr. Jones is a class B director.

Blake W. Nordstrom, Nordstrom, Inc., Seattle, WA. Mr. Nordstrom is a class B director.

Douglas W. Shorenstein, Shorenstein Properties LLC, San Francisco, CA. Mr. Shorenstein is a class C director.

Candace H. Wiest, West Valley National Bank, Avondale, AZ. Ms. Wiest is a class A director.

Kenneth P. Wilcox, SVB Financial Group and Silicon Valley Bank, Santa Clara, CA. Mr. Wilcox is a class A director.

The Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco provides wholesale banking services to financial institutions in the nine western states through its head office in San Francisco, branch offices in Los Angeles, Portland, Salt Lake City, and Seattle, and a cash processing office in Phoenix. As the nation's central bank, the Federal Reserve System formulates monetary policy, serves as a bank regulator, administers consumer protection laws, and is fiscal agent for the U.S. government.