Provident's Kopnisky Lures Bankers from N.Y. Rivals

Provident Bank president and chief executive Jack Kopnisky wasted no time in making good on his promise to hire bankers away from his competitors. 

The Montebello, N.Y., company said Friday that it had formed four new commercial banking teams and hired bankers from Capital One Financial Corp., Herald National Bank and TriState Capital Bank to lead the groups. 

"We have established strong teams with proven track records of delivering superior service to their clients," Kopnisky said in a news release. "We look forward to the contributions these teams will make to our expanding franchise."

Provident said on Wednesday that it would enter the New York City market with a deal to buy Gotham Bank of New York, a commercial bank with one branch in midtown Manhattan. Kopnisky said in an interview with American Banker that the $3.1 billion-asset Provident would then continue to grow in the Big Apple by hiring teams of lenders away from competitors.

Louis J. De Luca will lead one team for Provident. He was most recently executive vice president of the New York region at TriState Capital Bank. He had also previously worked at Capital One.

Team leaders Nicole Bonica and Gabriel Safdie both joined Provident from Capital One where they worked in the private banking segment.  

Jeffery Wall and Thomas Kokinias, who both worked at Herald National Bank, will lead a team together. Combined they have three decades of banking experience. 

David Bagatelle, who is heading Provident's expansion into New York City, founded Herald National in 2008 and previously served as its president and CEO. BankUnited Inc. of Miami Lakes, Fla., is in the process of buying Herald National for $71.4 million in cash and stock.

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