Indian-American Nandita Bakshi has been appointed the President and Chief Executive Officer of Bank of the West, a unit of French banking giant BNP Paribas.

• Bakshi, 57, will replace Michael Shepherd as Bank of the West’s next President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and is expected to join the bank as a CEO-in-training on April 1 and will take the helm officially on June 1.
• She earned a bachelor’s degree in History at the University of Calcutta and a masters in International Relations and Affairs at Jadavpur University.
• A New England News ‘Woman of the Year’ award recipient in 2002, Bakhshi also serves on the board of the Consumer Bankers Association.
• Bank of the West’s parent company BNP Paribas is revamping its US operations to meet new regulations.
• Bakhshi previously held several leadership roles at TD Bank, the most recent being executive vice president and head of North American direct channels where she was responsible for driving innovation in direct and electronic channels to improve digital adoption and provide customers a unified banking experience.
• She also held executive positions at Washington Mutual in Seattle which is now JP Morgan Chase; FleetBoston, which is now Bank of America; First Data Corp, Home Savings of America and Banc One Corp.

Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States
Founded: 1874