City National Bank has become the newest entrant in the competitive Santa Barbara banking market with the opening of its wealth management and business banking office in Montecito.

The five-member group will be headed by Senior Vice President and Regional Manager Leo Hamill, a former executive with Union Bank. The office is located at 1205 Coast Village Road; however, it will not be available for cash disbursements or deposits until an ATM opens later this year.

City National already operates branches in Ventura County and the opening of the Coast Village Road location was widely anticipated. Last month, City National agreed to be bought by the Royal Bank of Canada in a $5.4 billion deal.

In recent weeks downtown Santa Barbara has seen the quiet entrance of Banc of California, which opened an office on Canon Perdido Street in the former First Republic space. During the past year, Umpqua Bank has launched a business banking effort in Ventura County and Ojai Valley Bank opened a branch in downtown Santa Barbara.