Bandy Moves Up at First American

Jo Etta Bandy has been named vice president of corporate communications for First American Financial Corp. in Santa Ana. Bandy had been director of communications since 1998.

* John F. Bazan, Adrienne C. Hutchings and Nathan Owens have joined Kring & Brown LLP in Irvine as associates. Bazan, a senior associate, previously practiced with the law firm of Mendes & Mount LLP. Hutchings was formerly with the Settlement Law Group. Owens had been with the law firm of Nemecek & Cole.

* Richard C. Ponce has been named vice president and chief compliance officer at Providential Securities Inc. in Fountain Valley, which recently announced its intent to be acquired by JR Consulting Inc. Ponce was formerly a staff accountant at the Securities and Exchange Commission, and a compliance examiner at the National Association of Securities Dealers.

* Guy Bensaid has been appointed managing director of Yorba Linda-based QPS Inc.’s new European headquarters in Paris. Before joining the supplier of storage products for desktop computers, Bensaid created a division for Paris Sud Electronique Composants.