Signature Bank Receives Investment Grade Ratings from Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Inc.

Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), a New York-based full-service commercial bank, announced today that Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA), a full-service rating agency, assigned the following investment grade ratings to the Bank, based on KBRA’s Global Bank and Bank Holding Company Rating Methodology, which evaluates liquidity, asset quality, capital adequacy and earnings:

“Depositor safety has – and always will be – Signature Bank’s top priority. Our relationship-based model, led by our private client banking teams, places clients needs first and foremost. This client-centric, single-point-of-contact approach is the key driver of these high ratings,” explained Joseph J. DePaolo, president and chief executive officer.

“We are pleased these Kroll ratings rank Signature Bank among the strongest banks in the country. The third-party investment grade rating the Bank earned reflects the independent rankings of KBRA while validating our unrelenting commitment to our clients and shareholders,” DePaolo noted.

According to KBRA, Signature Bank’s rankings were based on its sustainable, strong earnings track record; ability to remain profitable and deliver peer-leading returns during the economic downturn; superior efficiency ratios; overall strong asset quality metrics; disciplined underwriting practices; healthy liquidity and strong core deposit base; solid capital ratios; and, highly experienced management team.

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 $31.92 billion in assets, $26.61 billion in deposits, $2.82 billion in equity capital and $3.52 billion in other assets under management as of September 30, 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 ranked third on leading trade journal Bank Director’s 2015 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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