Canada’s TD Bank Group is continuing its US expansion, bringing in former Standard Chartered Americas private banking chief John Leto as head of its wealth business in the New York metropolitan area, Reuters reports.

Leto, a former chief administrative officer for Citigroup’s private bank, joined Standard Chartered at the start of 2010, according to a previous statement from Standard Chartered. Based in Miami, he was responsible for leading the business development, strategy implementation and growth of the private banking business in the Americas. 

However, according to the report, he left the firm in March, following the sale of its Americas private bank to Banco Santander earlier this year. 

In his new role, Leto told Reuters he will be responsible for acquiring investment management, estate planning and other wealth advisory business from millionaire clients within the firm’s commercial and consumer bank.

The firm could not be reached to confirm the details before publication. 

In a similar move last month, the bank also appointed New York City-based Brandon Williams as senior vice president and head of TD Wealth.

According to the news service, Leto estimates that the New York area - including parts of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut - is home to some 700,000 millionaire households.

Although the New York area is “already crowded with well-established brokerages, private banks and wealth boutiques,” Leto believes there is an opportunity for TD Bank to build a “sizeable presence” - partly because Canadian banks “weathered the financial crisis better than their American counterparts.” (To view an article on the "Canada" brand click here.)

TD Bank’s US business extends from Washington, DC, to Maine, with additional offices in Florida. In March the bank reported net income of C$294 million ($295.5 million) in its wealth and insurance segment for the three months to 31 January, up from C$258 million for the same period a year earlier and C$289 million in the previous quarter.