Signature Bank Appoints Three Private Client Banking Teams; Five New Teams Added Year-to-Date

Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), a New York-based full-service commercial bank, announced today the appointment of three private client banking teams, bringing the total to five new teams added year-to-date.

Joan McNulty, who brings 25 years of banking experience to her new role, was named Group Director and Senior Vice President. Most recently, she spent 13 years at Citibank as Senior Vice President and Relationship Manager at the commercial banking headquarters in midtown Manhattan, catering to commercial clients. McNulty consistently ranked among the top performers during her tenure. Joining McNulty are Melissa Badger, who was named Associate Group Director and Vice President and Manuel Chalen, appointed Senior Client Associate. McNulty worked closely with Badger and Chalen for 10 and five years, respectively, at Citibank. Badger, previously Sales Manager of Treasury Products and Vice President at Citibank, has 23 years of banking experience, focused mostly on middle market clients. Chalen’s banking career spans 26 years, where he most recently served as Vice President and Branch Manager at the Citibank United Nations branch, serving personal and commercial clients. McNulty and her colleagues join the Bank’s office at 950 Third Avenue and 57^th Street in Manhattan.

Chris Panellino, a banking veteran with 43 years of industry experience, was named Group Director and Senior Vice President. She brings her team of three to the Signature Bank Great Neck, Long Island office. She, along with Helen Dounias and Jason Torres, who have each been named Associate Group Director and Vice President, join from HSBC in Glen Oaks, N.Y., where they worked together for many years. Panellino had been branch manager at HSBC in Glen Oaks for the past 22 years, where she worked together with Dounias, who most recently served as Premier Relationship Manager and Vice President, servicing commercial and high-net-worth clients. Torres spent the last seven years of his 18-year banking career working with Panellino and Dounias as a Senior Business Relationship Manager and Vice President, where he served the needs of commercial banking clients and high-net-worth individuals.

Complementing the offering of Panellino’s team is Michael Santucci, named Group Director – Investments under Signature Securities Group, the Bank’s investment advisory arm. Santucci, with 20 years of investment expertise, spent 17 years at the same location as Panellino as Senior Financial Advisor and Vice President, providing financial services expertise to business owners and high-net-worth individuals.

Monika Buono, Group Director and Vice President, along with her three-person team, temporarily join the Borough Park, Brooklyn private client banking office until the Bank establishes a new site in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Buono worked in banking for 16 years at Investor’s Bank (formerly Interbank and Marathon Bank) in Brooklyn, where as Branch Manager, she catered to a range of primarily professional services-related clients. Her team, most of who have worked together for 11 years, includes Senior Client Associate Joanne Panagiotakis and Client Associate Angela Zoto. Like Buono, Panagiotakis’ 24 years in banking spans roles at the predecessor banks to Investors Bank. Most recently, Panagiotakis was assistant branch manager at another Brooklyn location, focused on commercial and personal accounts. Zoto was a personal banker at the team’s prior institution for the past four years, where she serviced business and personal banking clients.

“We are pleased to have attracted these experienced, high-quality teams with proven long-term track records from their prior institutions. These appointments bring the number of teams hired this year to five and are indicative of the opportunities we are seeing in the marketplace. We look forward to the contributions each of these teams will make. These new additions, along with our existing teams, bode well for our future growth,” stated President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph J. DePaolo.

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.