Signature Bank Appoints Private Client Banking Team; Establishes New Office in Jamaica, Queens

Banks Ends Year with 73 Teams Based out of 24 Private Client Banking Offices

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), a New York-based full-service commercial bank, announced today that it has appointed a new private client banking team to be based out of its newly established Jamaica, Queens, N.Y. office.

Joining Signature Bank are Norman Burak, who was named Group Director and Senior Vice President and Elizabeth Forgione, appointed Associate Group Director and Vice President.

Most recently, Burak, who has 30 years of banking expertise, spent 24 years at HSBC, USA, NA and its predecessor entities, including Marine Midland Bank. He served as Vice President and Branch Manager for the past 13 years at the Jamaica branch on Hillside Avenue. Over the years, Burak established relationships with court-related businesses, law firms and real estate entities.

Forgione spent 22 years at Sterling Bank. For the past four years, she served as First Vice President and Branch Manager in Jamaica. She specializes in court-appointed accounts as well as serving small to mid-sized businesses and professional services firms, such as legal practices. In 2010, she was named among the top 10 businesswomen in Queens by local community newspaper, The Queens Courier.

Allison Corbett and James McCurry, who will each serve as Senior Client Associates, join Burak and Forgione. They had both previously worked with Burak for more than 13 years.

Concurrent with the new team’s appointment, Signature Bank opened its 24^th private client banking office. The Jamaica private client banking office is located at 8936 Sutphin Blvd., Jamaica, N.Y. 11435.

“The appointment of Norman and Elizabeth demonstrates the Bank’s continued ability to attract veteran bankers with long-established client relationships in need of a bank that can provide superior service. Both Norman and Elizabeth have decades of banking experience, primarily in the Jamaica area, making their team a perfect fit for our new office, our third in Queens,” noted Joseph J. DePaolo, President and Chief Executive Officer at Signature Bank.

Burak and Forgione stated why they were attracted to Signature Bank: “Signature Bank’s perspective of serving the client and meeting their needs through one team and a single-point-of-contact approach was appealing to us because it will afford our team a better opportunity to truly service our clients. At Signature Bank, we are able to work in an entrepreneurial manner since we manage our own book of business and are responsible for ensuring we meet our clients’ needs and exceed their expectations.”

Burak resides in East Meadow, NY. He serves as Chairman of the Sutphin Business Improvement District (SBID), an organization focused on improving the business along the corridor of Jamaica’s Sutphin Blvd. He is also a member of the Greater Jamaica Development Corp. and the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce. He holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing from Baruch College in New York City.

Forgione lives in Woodhaven, Queens and was raised in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She serves as treasurer of the SBID, where she and Burak initially met. She is also a member of the Queens Blvd Kiwanis Club.

About Signature Bank

Signature Bank, member FDIC, a New York-based full-service commercial bank with 24 private client offices throughout the New York metropolitan area, serves the needs of privately owned businesses, their owners and senior managers through dozens of private client groups. The Bank offers a wide variety of business and personal banking products and services as well as investment, brokerage, asset management and insurance products and services through its subsidiary, Signature Securities Group Corporation, a licensed broker-dealer, investment adviser and member FINRA/SIPC.

Signature Bank's 24 offices are located: In Manhattan - 261 Madison Avenue; 300 Park Avenue; 71 Broadway; 565 Fifth Avenue; 950 Third Avenue; 200 Park Avenue South, 1020 Madison Avenue and 50 West 57th Street. Brooklyn - 26 Court Street; 84 Broadway and 6321 New Utrecht Avenue. Westchester - 1C Quaker Ridge Road, New Rochelle and 360 Hamilton Avenue, White Plains. Long Island - 1225 Franklin Avenue, Garden City; 279 Sunrise Highway, Rockville Centre; 68 South Service Road, Melville; 923 Broadway, Woodmere; 40 Cuttermill Road, Great Neck and 100 Jericho Quadrangle, Jericho. Queens - 36-36 33rd Street, Long Island City; 78-27 37th Avenue, Jackson Heights and 8936 Sutphin Blvd., Jamaica. Bronx - 421 Hunts Point Avenue, Bronx. Staten Island - 2066 Hylan Blvd.

Since commencing operations in May 2001, the Bank has grown to $10.9 billion in assets, $9.05 billion in deposits, $919.8 million in equity capital and $1.78 billion in other assets under management as of September 30, 2010. 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. Forward-looking statements include information concerning our future results, interest rates and the interest rate environment, loan and deposit growth, loan performance, operations, competition, capitalization, new private client team hires, new office openings, the regulatory environment and business strategy. These statements often include words such as "may," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "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 and regulatory conditions; (ii) changes in interest rates, loan demand, real estate values and competition, which can materially affect origination levels and gain on sale results in our business, as well as other aspects of our financial performance; (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; and (iv) competition for clients, loans, deposits, qualified personnel and desirable office locations. 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.

Signature Bank
Investor Contact:Eric R. Howell, Chief Financial Officer
646-822-1402
ehowell@signatureny.com
or
Media Contact:Susan J. Lewis, 646-822-1825
slewis@signatureny.com

Source: Signature Bank