Signature Bank appointed veteran California-based banking executives Joe Petitti and John Knight to lead its new West Coast operations.

Thirty-year bank veteran Petitti will serve as the head of West Coast Operations while Knight will take up the post of managing director – Cash Management Operations. They will be based in San Francisco.

Petitti will spearhead the bank’s expansion and strategy in California, including its efforts to attract seasoned, private client banking teams while Knight will be responsible for cash management products and services as well as day-to-day operational support of West Coast activities.

Petitti most recently served as executive vice president at First Republic Bank, responsible for all deposit acquisition strategies. Prior to that, he was executive vice president and head of Retail Segment management for Union Bank. Petitti also held various senior management positions with Innoventry, Centurion Capital Management and California Federal Bank.

Knight also joins from First Republic Bank where he was national director of Preferred Banking and led all of the private banking teams located in key U.S. cities. He also served as vice president of Business Services. Prior to that, he served as senior vice president of Corporate Deposit Services at Union Bank and as a senior vice president in corporate banking at Wells Fargo in Los Angeles.

“Joe and Jack have spent years building their extensive and impressive careers in the California banking arena. The chance to welcome them into our network comes at a very opportune time for us, as Signature Bank extends its services and brings its proven private client banking model to California. They are an ideal fit for our enterprise and growth plans,” said Joseph J. DePaolo, president and CEO at Signature Bank.

Signature Bank is a New York-based full-service commercial bank with 30 private client offices throughout the New York metropolitan area.