Halé Behzadi is Vice Chair, California for BMO U.S. She is responsible for advancing BMO’s market presence in California, working closely with line of business leaders across Commercial Banking, Wealth Management, Personal & Business Banking and Capital Markets to maximize client success.

Halé is a proven leader with four decades of experience driving exceptional growth and organizational excellence in the financial services industry. She is known for her ability to build high-performing teams, develop innovative business strategies and create value across complex environments.

Before joining BMO, Halé served as CEO of Citi Private Bank North America. In this role, she worked with ultra-high net worth families and their closely held business and philanthropic ventures and led Citi Private Banking activities in 25 offices across the U.S. and Canada. Prior to joining Citigroup, Halé enjoyed a long career at Bank of America, where she was Senior Vice President directing a team of private banking professionals in Beverly Hills.

An active and deeply connected community member, Halé most recently served as Chair of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation’s Executive Committee and Board of Governors where she has been a board member since 2016. Halé is a founding member of the Ambassadors for Georgetown University’s Institute for Women, Peace and Security, and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Iranian American Women Foundation.
Throughout her career, Halé has been recognized with numerous awards, including being named to the Los Angeles Business Journal’s LA500 and recognized by LA Times Studios as a Banking & Finance Visionary in 2026, as well as the Women in Wealth Investment Award by Family Wealth Report and Woman of the Year Award by Women in Asset Management.

Halé holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Georgetown University and has extensive financial certifications including Series 7, 24, 63 and 65 FINRA licenses.