David Chaffee has been named senior vice...

David Chaffee has been named senior vice president and commercial loan development officer at the Bank of San Diego, overseeing all new business and expansion of the bank’s international banking services and credit functions.

Before joining the bank, Chaffee spent 12 years with Bank of America. Most recently, he was BofA’s vice president and marketing manager for San Diego and Imperial county commercial banking.

Chaffee, 48, has a strong background in international banking. He served more than three years as section head in BofA’s Jakarta and Taipei offices in the Far East. It was not the first time he lived in Asia, nor was he unfamiliar with Asian culture.

“I speak Chinese, and I have a master’s degree in Chinese history as well as a master’s in international management,” Chaffee said, adding that in the early ‘70s, he spent a year at the National Taiwan University researching Chinese history.”

“So, living there was not an unknown for me. . . . Bank of America wanted that from their section head,” he said. Chaffee worked with a number of kinds of businesses, including plastics, textiles, petrochemical and electronics manufacturers.

Chaffee’s banking career began 15 years ago with Union Planters National Bank in Tennessee. His education includes a undergraduate degree from Occidental College. He is an active member on San Diego’s World Affairs Council, and he has served on the board of COMBO, a local arts fund-raising group.