Management

Charles R. Wood
President, CEO & Director

Charles has an extensive background in banking, with overall experience that exceeds 26 years, including 13 years as an Executive Officer of various financial institutions. He has served as Chief Credit Officer for seven banks. His management skills have been applied to administering bank departments such as credit/lending, operations, and marketing. He has also been instrumental in developing various plans and models. He has evaluated existing operations as well as developed prudent action plans for the successful reorganization of departments to reduce operating costs while improving efficiency. Charles holds a BS degree in Business Administration from California State Polytechnic University.

Yu-Ching Lau
Executive Vice President, CFO & Director

Yu-Ching has over 32 years of professional experience, including 27 years in financial institutions. For more than 13 years, she served as Chief Financial Officer for a number of commercial banking institutions. Prior to joining the Bank, her career in banking and financial services included management responsibility of a more than $1.7 billion multi-state bank and holding company with 17 branches in five states, and founding Chief Financial Officer of a commercial bank headquartered in Los Angeles. She has established accounting, investment, financial and regulatory reporting, asset/liability management, strategic planning, budgeting, payroll, insurance, and employee
benefits administration and their respective policies and procedures. She currently serves on the Board of a charitable foundation focused on serving seniors in an assisted living facility. Yu-Ching holds an MBA in Accounting and Finance from UCLA and a BS degree in Business Administration from National Taiwan University. She has been a resident of Los Angeles since 1970.

Jane L. Auerswald
Executive Vice President & Chief Credit Officer

Jane’s banking career spans over 30 years with most of those years in California. Her experience includes over 15 years as a Chief Credit Officer for two independent banks in Orange County. At one bank she was part of a team that grew the bank from $36MM in assets to over $125MM in assets before it sold, returning excellent profits to its shareholders. Jane spent a few years in Carson City, Nevada, as a City President of a large Southern based bank and a Commercial Real Estate lender for a large Midwest bank before returning to her roots in Southern California. She is a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Illinois State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and holds a Masters in Business Administration from Pepperdine University. Jane has served in many community service organizations in California and Nevada. She was a board member for the Chamber of Commerce, a board member for Easter Seals, Treasurer of the board of the Builders Association of Western Nevada and appointed to the board for NevadaWorks. It is one of her goals to bring those community service credentials to Los Angeles.

Keith R. Ellis
Senior Vice President & Corporate Banking Manager

Keith Ellis holds the position of Senior Vice President & Corporate Banking Manager.  His banking experience includes the startup of major departments, acquisitions of several banks and numerous negotiations of business divestitures and merger transactions.  Mr. Ellis' broad business, financial and managerial background provides extensive insight into complex financial transactions for the small to medium sized business.  Keith's strengths are deal structuring, marketing and negotiations directed towards assisting businesses to more easily obtain favorable financing options.

Virginia A. Reid
Senior Vice President & Operations Administrator

Virginia's banking industry extends over 30 years. She has held a variety of positions in senior management, overseeing the operations of banks in the Los Angeles area. Prior to joining California Business Bank, she performed auditing and consulting services for several banks. Virginia is a graduate of Pacific Coast Banking School.

Theresa Ko
Senior Vice President & Controller

Theresa has over 15 years of banking experience in finance and has served in several positions at various banks. Prior to joining California Business Bank, she worked with a de novo bank for a year. From 1997 to 2004, she was with a community bank whose assets were $1.7 billion. Theresa holds a BS degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern California.