Signature Bank Announces Election of Former U.S. Congressman Barney Frank to Serve on Board of Directors

Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), a New York-based full-service commercial bank, announced today the election of former U.S. Congressman Barney Frank to its Board of Directors, effective today. Frank fills the seat left vacant by the recent passing of Alfred B. DelBello, who had served on Signature Bank’s board since January 2003, and also was Lead Independent Director since December 2011.

Frank served as a U.S. Congressman representing the 4^th District of Massachusetts from 1981-2013 and also was Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee from 2007-2011. While in Congress, Frank worked to address America’s spending priorities to reduce the deficit and protect funding for important quality-of-life needs at home. He championed the interests of the poor, underprivileged and vulnerable. Frank won reelection 16 times by double-digit margins. As chair of the House Financial Services Committee, he was instrumental in crafting the short-term $550 billion rescue plan in response to the nation’s financial crisis. Later, Frank co-sponsored the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, an extensive set of financial regulations aimed at preventing recurrence of the crisis that was signed into law in July 2010. From 2003 until his retirement, Frank was the leading Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee. Prior to serving in Congress, Frank spent eight years as a state Representative in Massachusetts and earlier, served as Chief of Staff to Congressman Michael Harrington and Chief Assistant to Mayor Kevin White of Boston.

Alfred B. DelBello served on the Bank’s board until April 2015. He was a partner in the White Plains, N.Y.-based law firm of DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkehr, LLP and had held several public service roles including Lieutenant Governor of the State of New York from 1983 to 1985, Westchester County Executive from 1974 to 1983 and Mayor of Yonkers from 1970 to 1974. While serving on Signature Bank’s Board, DelBello made significant contributions not only as a member but also through various committee chair responsibilities, including leading the Audit, Enterprise Risk and Nominating Committees at various points in time.

“We sadly mourn the passing of our fellow Board member and dedicated colleague, Al DelBello, whose vision, guidance and experience continually contributed to the leading reputation for which Signature Bank is now known. Al was always available to us, providing thoughtful counsel and insight whenever necessary. The entire Signature Bank board and all our colleagues were privileged to have an opportunity to benefit from Al’s wisdom, expertise and business acumen. Al was always spot on in seeing the essence of any complicated issue. We will sorely miss his presence in our board room. In Al’s honor, Signature Bank will officially dedicate the boardroom at its midtown Manhattan headquarters, designating it ‘The Alfred B. DelBello Board Room’. A plaque depicting this will soon be placed there as a constant reminder of his commitment and contributions to our Bank and will afford us all an opportunity to pause and think about the advice Al would have offered,” said Scott A. Shay, Chairman of the Board of Signature Bank.

“We are gratified to welcome Barney to the board, which is particularly engaged and energetic. We specifically seek members whose deep and broad experience will prove impactful to the Bank; those who share diverse perspectives and possess strong decision-making capabilities. These characteristics are what help foster the continued success and growth of Signature Bank amid the complicated economic environment in which we compete and truly define the personality of our current board. With a 32-year career devoted to government and his distinguished expertise in financial services, we believe Barney will be an asset to the board, bringing keen insights, far-reaching industry knowledge and vast intellect to his role as well as to our institution and the Bank’s shareholders,” Shay concluded.

Joseph J. DePaolo, Signature Bank President and Chief Executive Officer added: “Barney and his background complement the talent on the Signature Bank board. One of his fellow Signature Bank board members, Former Senator Alfonse D’Amato, was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, and, together they round out the breadth and depth of accomplished statesmen who bring substantive intelligence and capabilities to our Board. We all look forward to working together on behalf of the Bank and taking the institution to the next level.”

Frank noted: “I very much look forward to serving in this important position with Signature Bank. With the banking landscape constantly changing, and the ways in which regulations continue to affect both financial services entities and the overall industry, I am confident I can make a positive contribution to the Signature Bank board. As a commercial bank catering primarily to privately owned businesses, Signature Bank knows firsthand the importance small business plays in the health and vibrancy of our nation’s economy. I am excited to be part of all this in my new capacity as board member and in working with the other directors and management.”

Congressman Frank, who originally hails from Bayonne, N.J., resides in Newton, Mass. He is married to long-time partner, James Ready, and was the first member of Congress to marry someone of the same sex while in office. As the first Member of Congress to come out voluntarily, Frank was a leader in the fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) legal equality. Frank holds both Bachelor of Arts and Juris Doctorate degrees from Harvard University. He has taught at a range of universities in addition to his alma mater including Boston University, the University of Massachusetts Boston and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

About Signature Bank

Signature Bank, member FDIC, is a New York-based full-service commercial bank with 29 private client offices throughout the New York metropolitan area, including those in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Westchester, Long Island, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island and Connecticut. 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. Its specialty finance subsidiary, Signature Financial, LLC, provides equipment finance and leasing. Signature Securities Group Corporation, a wholly owned Bank subsidiary, is a licensed broker-dealer, investment adviser and member FINRA/SIPC, offering investment, brokerage, asset management and insurance products and services.

Since commencing operations in May 2001, the Bank has grown to $28.6 billion in assets, $24.0 billion in deposits, $2.6 billion in equity capital and $3.6 billion in other assets under management as of March 31, 2015. Signature Bank's Tier 1 and risk-based capital ratios are significantly above the levels required to be considered well capitalized.

Signature Bank was named the Best Bank in America by Forbes for 2015 and the only large cap bank to appear on Forbes’ list of America’s 50 Most Trustworthy Financial Companies. Signature Bank also was voted Best Business Bank by the New York Law Journal in the publication’s fifth annual reader survey; named the nation’s fifth top-performing bank by ABA Banking Journal; and ranked seventh on Bank Director magazine’s 2014 Bank Performance Scorecard for banks with assets between $5 and $50 billion.

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 teams and other 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 and can change as a result of many possible events or factors, not all of which are known to us or in our control. 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. 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.

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