BBCN Bancorp on Thursday said that Chairman Kevin S. Kim has been named president and chief executive.

Kim was a key negotiator in the creation of BBCN from the 2011 merger of Center Financial and Nara Bancorp. He had been a director of Center Financial from 2008 until the merger, which created the nation’s largest Korean-American bank,

Kim, 55, an attorney and certified public accountant, replaces Alvin Kang, who resigned as chief executive at the end of January. Kang was Nara’s chief executive prior to the merger. When his resignation was announced, the $5.6 billion-asset bank said it would hire a search firm to find a replacement and appointed an executive council to run the bank in the interim.

The Koreatown holding company said that while Kim assumes responsibility for leading the holding company, the board plans to hire a separate chief executive and president to manage the day-to-day business of the bank. Kim will also continue to serve as chairman.

“The separation of the holding company and bank-level CEO responsibilities is designed to enable management to focus on their respective areas of strength, lower the company’s risk profile and improve its revenue stream,” Kim said in a statement.

BBCN also announced that Chief Financial Officer Philip E. Guldeman, 68, was leaving the company at the end of the month and would be succeeded by Deputy CFO Douglas J. Goddard, 60. Goddard joined Center Financial in 2010 as Interim CFO.

The company also announced that Scott Yoon-Suk Whang, 67, had been named lead independent director. He was a Nara director prior to the merger.

BBCN shares closed up 25 cents, or 2 percent, to $13.43 on the Nasdaq.