American Momentum Bank in Tampa said Tuesday that it has hired a team of more than a dozen bankers from Citigroup Inc. to help expand its Texas business.
The $200 million-asset Florida bank bought a dormant Texas charter in December and has been offering loans and taking deposits from a temporary office in College Station, Tex., since the end of January.
American Momentum's chairman and chief executive, Donald A. Adams, recruited Citi bankers whom he knew from his time at First American Bank in Bryan, Tex. Mr. Adams sold the $3.5 billion-asset institution to Citi in 2005.
He then helped organize American Momentum, which opened in 2006 with $100 million in capital.
In a press release, Mr. Adams said, "Through no fault of the local or statewide Citibank staff, the end result of the First American Bank and Citibank transaction has been most disappointing and has created a void which American Momentum will move quickly to fill."
