TORONTO (Reuters) - Bank of Montreal ( BERZ ) is hiring Tony Sciarrino from JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) to lead its U.S. commercial banking business, replacing Ray Whitacre who will retire Jan. 1, according to a memo sent internally on Friday.

Sciarrino will start his role at BMO in late March 2025 and report to commercial banking group head Nadim Hirji and CEO Darrel Hackett, the memo seen by Reuters said.

In his most recent role, Sciarrino was managing director and segment head for commercial banking clients at JPMorgan Chase ( JPM ) overseeing operations in the Western United States, including California, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, Alaska, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

He also spent more than 26 years at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and held several senior roles.

Sciarrino will divide his work between BMO's Chicago and Los Angeles offices while focusing on the lender's commercial bank footprint across the country, with an emphasis on the Midwest markets, the memo, signed by Hirji and Hackett, said.

BMO has rapidly expanded in the U.S. through its $16 billion acquisition of San Francisco-based Bank of the West in 2023 that gave it a massive presence on the US west coast to build its retail and commercial banking footprint.