Thompson will oversee performance of the company's private banks, which include Boston Private Bank & Trust in Boston, First Private Bank & Trust in Los Angeles, Borel Private Bank & Trust Company in San Francisco and Charter Private Bank in Seattle. The four banks have $3.6 billion of client assets under management combined.

Thompson will also become a member of BPFH's senior policy group and will keep his current role as CEO and president of Boston Private Bank & Trust.

Dawson will relocate from Boston to San Francisco and is directly responsible for the company's three West Coast private banks. He will also continue to serve as a member of BPFH's senior policy group. Dawson began his career with the company in 1996 at Boston Private Bank, where he was president and COO, and he joined the holding company in 2008.

"Private banking is core to our strategy and critical to our long term performance as a company. Accelerating the adoption of our ideal private bank model across all of our markets is key to achieving our growth and return objectives," Clayton Deutsch, BPFH's CEO said in a statement.

Deutsch, who joined the company from McKinsey & Co in June, which was reported by this publication, appears to be making his mark.

“As the primary architect of our most successful private banking model, we expect Mark to bring this same leadership and standard of quality to our entire private banking group,” Deutsche said in a statement. "Jim is also one of our most experienced bankers and has played a critical role in developing our highly successful Boston Private client service model."

Following the 2008 financial crisis Boston Private’s subsidiaries were hit by tightening credit lines and declining assets. The firm received $75 million from The Carlyle Group, a private-equity firm, and subsequently divested three wealth management affiliates.

In June the firm announced it plans to raise approximately $25 million through the sale of shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. The bank said it intends to utilize the net proceeds from the offering to strengthen the quality of its capital base and to support the redemption of its remaining TARP securities.