Signature Bank Names Private Client Banking Team in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Signature Bank (Nasdaq:SBNY), a New York-based full-service commercial bank, announced today the addition of a new private client banking team to be based in the Brooklyn area. This marks 10 teams now dedicated to serving the growing Brooklyn marketplace.

Leon Kratsberg and Gary Shulevich were each named Senior Vice President and Group Director while Deborah Raffone was appointed Senior Client Associate. Kratsberg and Shulevich, who have worked together for eight years, will serve the entire Brooklyn marketplace from the Bank’s office at 84 Broadway in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. As the Bank further expands efforts across Brooklyn, the team will be relocating to another private client banking office in the area.

The team joins from the HSBC branch near Bensonhurst, Brooklyn at 6702 Bay Parkway. Most recently, Kratsberg, with a decade of banking experience, was a Senior Relationship Manager and Vice President, serving large commercial clients throughout Brooklyn and Staten Island. Prior, he was a Business Relationship Manager at JP Morgan Chase covering the Brooklyn area.

Shulevich brings 11 years of banking experience to his new role, all spent with his former employer. Previously, he was a Relationship Manager and Vice President, also catering to the Brooklyn and Staten Island markets, where he managed one of the largest deposit portfolios within that market.

Raffone’s 21-year banking career was primarily spent serving as Assistant Branch Manager at various HSBC branches in Brooklyn and Staten Island, providing business support to relationship managers in both these geographic areas.

“The appointment of Leon, Gary and Debbie marks the seventh team we’ve added in the first half of the year and the 10th private client banking team we now have based in Brooklyn, serving this growing marketplace. Leon and Gary will cater to clients throughout Brooklyn as well as Staten Island, since during the past decade, they have focused on forging relationships throughout both areas,” noted President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph J. DePaolo.

“With the recent commercial and residential boom and changing landscape throughout many parts of Brooklyn, we are continuing to expand our presence in this vibrant marketplace. Our three established offices, along with another set to open soon, will extend our single-point-of-contact approach to additional clients throughout the borough. We welcome the team to the Bank, and look forward to furthering our presence in this area,” DePaolo said.

Kratsberg and Shulevich commented on joining the Bank, stating: “Signature Bank has built a solid reputation in the metro-New York commercial banking arena amongst both bankers and clients alike. The Bank has become known for its distinctive service model, which leads to long-standing client relationships. We were attracted to Signature Bank because we wanted to be part of its client-centric environment, offering an experience that is second to none.”

About Signature Bank

Signature Bank, member FDIC, is a New York-based full-service commercial bank with 27 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 27 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 (2) - 2066 Hylan Blvd. and 1688 Victory 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.