Bank of the West appointed Ken Turner head of its equipment finance division, taking the place of Tristan Watkins, who has accepted an international role with the bank’s parent company, BNP Paribas, based in Paris.

Turner has been with Bank of the West since 2017, most recently as managing director of technology and healthcare under the equipment finance division. Over the past three years, Turner has focused on establishing and growing vendor relationships in the technology, healthcare and sustainability sectors.

“Ken’s years of leadership experience at notable organizations, coupled with his diverse background across sales, operations and risk, will be instrumental to his success in his new role,” Jean-Marc Torre, senior executive vice president and head of corporate and commercial banking at Bank of the West, said. “Ken’s experience within global organizations ideally positions him to deliver the full breadth of financing solutions to our vendor partners across the entire Bank of the West and BNP Paribas footprint.”