Bank of the West appoints Hope Mehlman as General Counsel

Bank of the West, a subsidiary of BNP Paribas, appoints Hope Mehlman as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, as well as Corporate Secretary of BNP Paribas USA, the holding company that oversees its retail and wholesale banking activities.

She will lead Bank of the West’s legal activities, regulatory relations and government affairs functions and serve as a member of the Bank’s Executive Management Committee. As an integral part of the BNP Paribas Americas legal team, Mehlman will work closely with BNP Paribas Group legal teams. She will also serve as a member of the BNP Paribas USA Executive Management Committee.

Mehlman will succeed Vanessa Washington who will retire from the Bank at the end of the month after 14 years. A veteran in the financial services industry, Mehlman joins Bank of the West from Regions Financial Corporation.  During her 14 years at Regions, she held significant and wide-ranging roles most recently as EVP, Corporate Secretary, Chief Governance Officer and Deputy General Counsel. Prior to Regions, Mehlman was a partner in a private practice focused on a full range of corporate governance, regulatory, compliance, and other issues affecting financial institutions’ operations.