David S. Bagatelle joined CIT Group as a managing director and will lead the relationship commercial banking activity in the Eastern region.

In this role, Bagatelle will deliver an integrated product offering from across CIT to small and midsized clients, as well as their owners and senior managers, in the region.

“Dave is a seasoned banker with a distinguished track record, and we are pleased to have him join the CIT team as we continue to expand our commercial banking capabilities and further deepen our client relationships,” said CIT Bank President and Head of Commercial Banking Robert Rubino. “Dave will build on our East Coast banking capabilities through a high-touch service model to deliver small and midsized businesses a more direct banking relationship.”

Bagatelle has more than 30 years of banking experience. He most recently worked at Sterling National Bank, where, since 2011, he served as executive vice president and president of New York Metro Markets. Prior to that, he was founder, president, CEO and board member at Herald National Bank from 2007 to 2010.

Bagatelle was also one of the founders of Signature Bank and served as an executive vice president of the bank and president and CEO of Signature Securities.