McDermott + Bull has successfully placed Matt Ayers as Chief Compliance Officer at Farmers & Merchants (F&M) Bank of Northern California. Matt will take over the leadership of a strong compliance function for the organization, overseeing a team of five who will manage and evolve the existing compliance framework. Matt earned his Series 7 and Series 63 during his time as an investment banker with FBR Capital Markets, where he served as a senior analyst in its financial institutions group. After that, he spent eight years as a regulator with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Before joining F&M Bank, he served as the Head of Compliance for the nation’s largest correspondent bank, TIB, N.A. Matt received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Arizona. Founded in 1916, F&M Bank is a locally owned and operated community bank which proudly serves California through 32 convenient locations. The company operates in the mid-Central Valley of California – including the counties of Sacramento, San Joaquin, Solano, Stanislaus, and Merced– and the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area – including the counties of Alameda, Napa, and Contra Costa. F&M Bank is financially strong, with over $5.4 billion in assets, and is consistently recognized as one of the nation’s safest banks by national bank rating firms. This executive search was completed by McDermott + Bull President Brandon Biegenzahn, Executive Recruiter Mary Heiman, and Senior Research Associate Josh Nichols.