Cathay Bank appointed Dale Wilson senior vice president and manager of its Oil and Gas Group based in Houston.

Wilson will apply his experience in upstream and midstream oil and gas transactions to develop credit policy and build an experienced team to grow Cathay Bank’s Oil and Gas specialty lending segment within the Corporate Banking division.

“We are pleased to have someone with Dale’s specialized experience and comprehensive understanding of the energy industry joining Cathay Bank,” said Kelly Wu, executive vice president of the Corporate Banking division at Cathay Bank. “Dale’s hire reinforces our commitment to better serve the banking needs of companies within specialized industries, and we look forward to the growth and success of our new Oil and Gas Group.”

Wilson brings more 35 years of experience in both the oil and gas industry and energy banking, primarily with global financial institutions. Most recently he served as territory manager for BancorpSouth in South Texas and Louisiana. Prior to that, Wilson was senior vice president and regional commercial executive for the Texas region of HSBC Bank USA. There he managed a corporate banking team responsible for energy and corporate clients in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma.

Wilson also brings energy banking experience from Bank of America and Citibank.

Founded in 1962, Cathay Bank currently operates 34 branches in California and branches in New York State, Chicago, Washington, Texas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey and Hong Kong.