John W. Ahlen IV, bank chief counsel for the Arkansas State Bank Department, has been named deputy bank commissioner, effective July 2.
He will replace Luther Guinn, who is retiring on Friday.
As deputy bank commissioner, Ahlen will oversee one of two commercial examination groups based in Little Rock, the commercial examination group in Jonesboro and the trust examination group. He will also be responsible for the training and information technology areas of the department.
Ahlen will retain his current position too. He joined the department as bank chief counsel in August 2016.
Previously, Ahlen served as general counsel for the Arkansas Auditor of State and as assistant parliamentarian and legislative analyst for the Arkansas House of Representatives.
He received his juris doctorate from the William H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in 2014 and a bachelor’s of arts in history degree, with an emphasis on politics, from Hendrix College in 1998.
In other staff moves, the department has assigned Bob M. Henry as manager of its newly formed “large bank” examination group.
The new group was developed in response to the growth of several state-chartered banks. As of March 31, five of those banks reported assets in excess of $5 billion.
Henry was hired by the department as a commercial examiner in May 1992 and advanced to certified bank senior examiner. He was promoted to bank examiner manager in February 2013.
In January 2015, Henry was assigned as manager of one of the commercial examination groups based in Little Rock.
He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration in 1991 from Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. His emphasis was in finance and accounting.
In 2012, Henry earned his credential as a certified fraud examiner from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
Dharmin H. Patel was promoted to Henry’s position as manager of one of the commercial examination groups in Little Rock.
Patel was hired as a commercial examiner in June 2005 and advanced to certified bank senior examiner.
He received a bachelor’s degree in finance and banking, with an emphasis on investments, from the University of Arkansas in June 2005. Patel is also a certified fraud examiner.