December 22, 2003

Akana, Brown, Jenkins, Okazaki, Taylor Promoted to Senior Vice President of First Hawaiian Bank

(Honolulu, Hawaii, December 22, 2003) – First Hawaiian Bank today announced the promotions of five new Senior Vice Presidents, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Walter A. Dods, Jr. said. They are:

  • Benjamin K. Akana, Senior Vice President and Business Banking Team Leader, Main Banking Center. Akana was born in Honolulu and is a graduate of Kamehameha Schools and the College of Idaho. He has 21 years of experience in banking in Hawaii. Since joining First Hawaiian in 1991 Akana has specialized in corporate and business banking.
  • Ward B. Brown, Senior Vice President and Private Banking Officer. Brown was born in Honolulu and is a graduate of Hawaii Preparatory Academy, University of Hawaii and Pacific Coast Banking School. He joined First Hawaiian in 1969 and has been a Vice President since 1988. He has worked in Private Banking since 1995.
  • Charles L. Jenkins, Senior Vice President and Manager, Corporate National Division. Jenkins is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Pacific Coast Banking School. He has 16 years of banking experience in Hawaii, including as Kauai manager for Territorial Savings and Neighbor Island regional manager for First Interstate Bank of Hawaii. He joined First Hawaiian in 1991 when it acquired First Interstate.
  • Kathryn K. Okazaki, Senior Vice President, Credit Department. She was born in Honolulu and is a graduate of Aiea High School, the University of Hawaii and the School of Bank Administration. She has been with First Hawaiian Bank for more than 31 years and worked in positions in accounting and planning before becoming manager of the Credit Department in 1994.
  • Michael G. Taylor, Senior Vice President, Financial Management Group. Taylor is a graduate of Gonzaga University who has more than 30 years’ experience in the insurance business in Hawaii. He has been a Senior Vice President and General Manager of First Hawaiian Insurance, Inc., since that bank subsidiary was created in 1997.