Californian wealth manager First Republic Bank has appointed Tod Racine as managing director of business banking. He will be based in San Francisco. Mr Racine will work with venture capital, private equity firms and investment funds to provide a range of private banking, private business banking, investment management and trust services, as well as real estate lending. Prior to joining First Republic, Racine worked for Venture Banking Group in San Francisco and Palo Alto for 10 years as senior vice president, senior credit officer and relationship manager. Previously he was manager of independent business for Toronto Dominion Bank in Canada. NYSE-listed First Republic Bank has offices in the San Francisco Bay Area, throughout California, and in Portland, Seattle, Las Vegas, Boston and New York. As of 30 June 2007, the Bank and its subsidiaries had total bank assets and other managed assets of $34.1 billion.