First Republic Bank, the private bank and wealth management firm, has announced that Mike Roffler, deputy chief financial officer for the past five years, has been named executive vice president, CFO effective Jan. 1, 2015.

First Republic Bank, the private bank and wealth management firm, has announced that Mike Roffler, deputy chief financial officer for the past five years, has been named executive vice president, CFO effective Jan. 1, 2015.

Roffler succeeds Willis Newton, who has served as CFO of First Republic for the past 26 years.

Newton joined First Republic in 1988 as chief financial officer; in 2011, Newton was named CFO of The Year by The San Francisco Business Times. In a statement, First Republic said he was “instrumental in First Republic's divestiture in 2010 from Bank of America, including its $1.8 billion capital raise, second IPO and secondary common stock offerings”.

Chairman and CEO Jim Herbert paid tribute to Newman, who remains engaged with the bank as a consultant.

Roffler, meanwhile, joined First Republic in 2009 and has had direct responsibility for accounting, tax, and both financial and regulatory reporting. Prior to joining First Republic, Roffler worked for 16 years in the audit practice at KPMG and became a partner in 2004.