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.
