Metropolitan Bank Holding, the holding company for Metropolitan Commercial Bank, promoted Luke J. Kaufman to head of commercial lending, effective immediately. He will report to Scott Lublin, executive vice president and chief lending officer, and will be responsible for the overall operations of the commercial lending division.

Kaufman has more than 19 years of lending and banking experience across a range of major New York financial institutions. Prior to joining Metropolitan Commercial Bank in 2015, he was a senior vice president at Astoria Bank. He managed the NYC Business banking group, which was responsible for producing $200 million in committed facilities, in excess of $100 million in deposit balances and maintained a blended portfolio of 70% C&I business and 30% commercial real estate.

“Luke brings to Metropolitan Commercial Bank almost two decades of experience in banking and commercial lending. His broad experience, including five years with our commercial lending group, makes him the right choice to lead our commercial lending team,” Mark DeFazio, president and CEO of Metropolitan Commercial Bank, said.

“We are excited to promote Luke to head up Metropolitan Commercial Bank’s commercial lending team. We look forward to his leadership and keen insights,” Scott Lublin, executive vice president and chief lending officer of Metropolitan Commercial Bank, said.

“I am proud to be part of the organization and to support MCB’s continued success and strategic growth plan,” Kaufman said. “The bank’s success is attributed to our internal partners and the efforts of our talented group that has a track record of delivering results in any market environment.”

Metropolitan Commercial Bank is a community-focused bank that provides a range of business, commercial and personal banking products and services to small businesses, middle-market enterprises, public entities and affluent individuals.