Leader Bank in Arlington, Mass., has hired a former First Republic Bank executive to build a startup banking division.
The $4 billion-asset bank hired Vitaliy Schafer as director or venture capital, private equity and technology banking to oversee a push for tech and VC clients. Schafer was a managing director at First Republic, which failed in April.
“This is something we’ve been wanting to do for about five years, but we weren’t really able to find a way to properly wedge into it,” Jay Tuli, Leader Bank’s president, told Banker & Tradesman. “We’ve taken our time to bring the right person in.”
Tuli said the division plans to bring in $500 million of deposits over the next five years.