Signature Bank in N.Y. Hires Citgroup Private Banking Team

Signature Bank (SBNY) in New York City has hired a private-client team from Citigroup (NYSE: C) and added two more bankers to head its existing groups.

The $18.3 billion-asset company has hired a former Citigroup team to work out of its office in White Plains, N.Y., it said Wednesday. The office will be led by group directors David Pilossoph and Marie Moreno, who each have more than two decades of experience as branch managers in Westchester for Citigroup.

"We again have proven our capabilities in attracting bankers whose entire careers have been dedicated to financial services and in many cases, spent at the same institution," said Signature Bank President and Chief Executive Joseph DePaolo in the news release. "With two offices and six teams across [Westchester] County now, we are further penetrating this area's business landscape with the addition of this veteran team."

Signature also named new group directors for two other offices. It hired private banker Thomas Pappas from JPMorgan Chase (JPM) to be group director for a Manhattan office and Zoe Koutsoupakis, formerly of Investors Bancorp (ISBC) of Short Hills, N.J., as group director of a Brooklyn office.

Signature Bank has added six new banking groups this year, including several that it hired from Citigroup in March. The competition for banking talent in New York has intensified this year, due in part to BankUnited’s move into the city. BankUnited (BKU) Chief Executive John Kanas has hired more than 100 bankers from his New York competitors, nearly all of whom were his former employees at North Fork Bancorp, which he sold to Capital One Financial (COF) in 2006.