Signature Bank Strengthens Senior Management Team to Support Continued Growth

Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), a New York-based full-service commercial bank, announced today the appointment of two executives, effective May 13, 2013, both of which will strengthen its senior management team.

Eric R. Howell, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, has been named to the post of Executive Vice President-Corporate & Business Development, a newly created position.

In this role, Howell will devote more time to assisting in client acquisition and promoting the Signature Bank client experience of being financially well cared for. He will become increasingly more involved in the recruiting and expansion of the Bank’s private client banking teams and development of new offices. Also, Howell will increase his involvement in assisting both Signature Financial, the Bank’s specialty finance unit, and Signature Securities’ Small Business Administration (SBA) Pool Assembling business. Lastly, he will retain oversight of investor relations.

Howell, 42, who joined the Bank in 2000, has served as CFO since November 2004. Prior, he was Vice President of Finance and Controller. Earlier in his career, he was an Associate Managing Director at Republic National Bank of New York, which he joined in 1992. During his tenure there, he held other numerous positions including CFO of both Republic’s retail broker-dealer and retail insurance agency.

Concurrent with Howell’s appointment, the Bank named Vito Susca, 44, who joined the Bank in March 2004, to the post of Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, to manage the Bank’s finance and accounting functions. Prior, he was Senior Vice President and Controller. Before joining the Bank, he held various positions at Republic National Bank of New York, which he joined in 1991, and then, HSBC Bank USA/HSBC Securities Inc., following the acquisition of Republic by HSBC. Roles Susca held include Vice President and Deputy Controller in the Derivative Products Group and Vice President in the Global Trading Operations Financial Control group. He was also First Vice President and Deputy Manager in Treasury Finance for HSBC Bank USA/HSBC Securities Inc.

“Based upon Signature Bank’s growth during the past several years, we realized the need to further strengthen our senior management team to seize additional opportunities in business development and to support future endeavors,” explained President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph J. DePaolo.

“These well-deserved appointments of our current management team members will prove beneficial to the Bank’s impending growth by allowing us to continue providing the same level of management support to our teams and their clients as we do today. We will not let growth inhibit the superior level of service we offer our clients. We are – first and foremost – a relationship-based bank, and our success is predicated on delivering a distinct level of service to our clients that sets Signature Bank apart. Not only is management available to our teams in the onboarding of relationships, but we strive to know our clients personally. This high-touch, personalized approach represents a meaningful portion of how management dedicates its time, and now, Eric also will contribute to this effort. Eric and I have worked closely together for many years, and his day-to-day contributions to the Bank’s success over the past 13 years -- particularly regarding the recent formation of Signature Financial -- have played a key role in the solid leadership position we hold today.

“Vito joined Signature Bank the day our stock began trading publicly and his experience with the institution, coupled with his deep, vast knowledge of finance, regulatory requirements and accounting, make him the perfect candidate to fill the CFO role. As we continue to expand our presence throughout the metro-NY area, both Eric and Vito’s contributions will positively impact our advancement. We look forward to their leadership in each of their respective positions,” DePaolo concluded.

Howell resides in Lloyd Harbor, Long Island with his wife and family. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from the State University of New York at Albany, and is a Certified Public Accountant in New York. In both 2012 and 2013, Howell was named best mid-cap bank CFO by Institutional Investor in its annual ranking, entitled “All-America Executive Team: Best CFOs.”

Susca is a resident of Somers, N.Y. in Westchester County, where he lives with his wife and family. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a Chartered Global Management Accountant, both in New York. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the New York State Society of CPAs (NYSSCPA). He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from St. John’s University in Queens, New York.

About Signature Bank

Signature Bank, member FDIC, is a New York-based full-service commercial bank with 26 private client offices throughout the New York metropolitan area. The Bank’s growing network of private client banking teams serves the needs of privately owned businesses, their owners and senior managers. Signature Bank offers a wide variety of business and personal banking products and services. The Bank operates Signature Financial, LLC, a specialty finance subsidiary focused on equipment finance and leasing, transportation financing and taxi medallion financing. Investment, brokerage, asset management and insurance products and services are offered through the Bank’s subsidiary, Signature Securities Group Corporation, a licensed broker-dealer, investment adviser and member FINRA/SIPC.

Signature Bank's 26 offices are located: In Manhattan (9) - 261 Madison Avenue; 300 Park Avenue; 71 Broadway; 565 Fifth Avenue; 950 Third Avenue; 200 Park Avenue South; 1020 Madison Avenue; 50 West 57th Street and 2 Penn Plaza. Brooklyn (3) - 26 Court Street; 84 Broadway and 6321 New Utrecht Avenue. Westchester (2) - 1C Quaker Ridge Road, New Rochelle and 360 Hamilton Avenue, White Plains. Long Island (7) - 1225 Franklin Avenue, Garden City; 279 Sunrise Highway, Rockville Centre; 68 South Service Road, Melville; 923 Broadway, Woodmere; 40 Cuttermill Road, Great Neck; 100 Jericho Quadrangle, Jericho and 360 Motor Parkway, Hauppauge. Queens (3) – 36-36 33rd Street, Long Island City; 78-27 37th Avenue, Jackson Heights and 8936 Sutphin Blvd., Jamaica. Bronx (1) - 421 Hunts Point Avenue, Bronx. Staten Island (1) - 2066 Hylan Blvd.

Since commencing operations in May 2001, the Bank has grown to $18.3 billion in assets, $14.8 billion in deposits, $1.7 billion in equity capital and $1.7 billion in other assets under management as of March 31, 2013. Signature Bank's Tier 1 and risk-based capital ratios are significantly above the levels required to be considered well capitalized.

For more information, please visit www.signatureny.com.

This press release and oral statements made from time to time by our representatives contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are subject to risks and uncertainties. You should not place undue reliance on those statements because they are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties relating to our operations and business environment, all of which are difficult to predict and may be beyond our control. Forward-looking statements include information concerning our future results, interest rates and the interest rate environment, loan and deposit growth, loan performance, operations, new private client team hires, new office openings and business strategy. These statements often include words such as "may," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," “potential,” “opportunity,” “could,” “project,” “seek,” “should,” “will,” would,” "plan," "estimate" or other similar expressions.As you consider forward-looking statements, you should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These factors include but are not limited to: (i) prevailing economic conditions; (ii) changes in interest rates, loan demand, real estate values and competition, any of which can materially affect origination levels and gain on sale results in our business, as well as other aspects of our financial performance, including earnings on interest-bearing assets; (iii) the level of defaults, losses and prepayments on loans made by us, whether held in portfolio or sold in the whole loan secondary markets, which can materially affect charge-off levels and required credit loss reserve levels; (iv) changes in monetary and fiscal policies of the U.S. Government, including policies of the U.S. Treasury and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; (v) changes in the banking and other financial services regulatory environment and (vi) competition for qualified personnel and desirable office locations. As you read and consider forward-looking statements, you should understand that these statements are not guarantees of performance or results. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions and can change as a result of many possible events or factors, not all of which are known to us or in our control. Although we believe that these forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, beliefs and expectations, if a change occurs or our beliefs, assumptions and expectations were incorrect, our business, financial condition, liquidity or results of operations may vary materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements. Additional risks are described in our quarterly and annual reports filed with the FDIC. You should keep in mind that any forward-looking statements made by Signature Bank speak only as of the date on which they were made. New risks and uncertainties come up from time to time, and we cannot predict these events or how they may affect the Bank. Signature Bank has no duty to, and does not intend to, update or revise the forward-looking statements after the date on which they are made. In light of these risks and uncertainties, you should keep in mind that any forward-looking statement made in this release or elsewhere might not reflect actual results.