Signature Bank and Prime Trust to Align Their Respective Technologies to Better Serve the Institutional Blockchain Industry

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), a New York-based full-service commercial bank and one of the leading financial institutions serving the blockchain industry, announced today it forged a relationship with Prime Trust, a technology-driven financial institution providing infrastructure solutions for the digital economy. Prime Trust’s Prime Settlement Network, one of the most advanced multi-asset counterparty settlement platforms in the world, will leverage Signature Bank’s Signet™ platform, a revolutionary blockchain-based digital payments platform, to provide real-time payment and settlement services to Signature Bank and Prime Trust’s institutional clients.

Through this new relationship, Prime Trust and their clients, which include many verticals in the digital asset industry, can utilize Signet to fund and settle their accounts in real-time, 24/7/365.

“The relationship we have forged with Prime Trust will allow their clients to immediately settle their transactions through the revolutionary Signet platform. Any Signature Bank commercial client participating on the Signet platform has the ability to make instantaneous payments in U.S. dollars, any time without transaction fees. Prime Trust’s institutional clients requiring immediate settlements for digital asset trades truly stand to benefit from Signet’s capabilities,” explained Joseph DePaolo, President and Chief Executive Officer at Signature Bank.

“Forging a client relationship with Signature Bank and capitalizing on the advantages of Signet will prove valuable to our company and clients. Signature Bank has established a proven track record in the blockchain payment space and is now recognized for the outstanding services it brings to digital asset traders and exchanges. We look forward to creating new efficiencies for our clients in conjunction with Signature Bank and the Signet team,” commented Whitney White, Prime Trust’s Chief Operating Officer, Chief Technology Officer and Executive Trust Officer.

About Prime Trust:

Prime Trust is the technology-driven financial institution that provides financial infrastructure solutions for the digital economy. The firm powers exchanges, OTC desks, portals, platforms, brokers, investment advisors, exchanges, real-estate syndicators, and others with smart API solutions to create world-class financial services at scale. Services provided by Prime Trust include institutional and retail account types including custodial, IRA, trust, and escrow, along with funds processing, AML and KYC compliance, asset custody, transaction technology and tax reporting. For more information, visit www.primetrust.com.

About Signature Bank

Signature Bank, member FDIC, is a New York-based full-service commercial bank with 31 private client offices throughout the New York metropolitan area and Connecticut as well as San Francisco. The Bank’s growing network of private client banking teams serves the needs of privately owned businesses, their owners and senior managers.

Signature Bank’s 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.

Signature Bank recently introduced its revolutionary, blockchain-based digital payments platform, Signet™, enabling real-time payments for its commercial clients. The Signet Platform allows the Bank’s commercial clients to make payments in U.S. dollars, 24/7/365, safely and securely, without transaction fees. Signature Bank is the first FDIC-insured bank to launch a blockchain-based digital payments platform, and Signet is the first such platform to be approved for use by the NYS Department of Financial Services.

Since commencing operations in May 2001, the Bank has grown to $49.41 billion in assets, $37.94 billion in loans, $39.06 billion in deposits, $4.74 billion in equity capital and $3.51 billion in other assets under management as of September 30, 2019. Signature Bank's Tier 1 and risk-based capital ratios are significantly above the levels required to be considered well capitalized.

Signature Bank is one of the top 40 largest banks in the U.S., based on deposits (S&P Global Market Intelligence). The Bank recently earned several third-party recognitions, including: appeared on Forbes' Best Banks in America list for the ninth consecutive year in 2019; and, named number one in the Business Bank, Private Bank and Attorney Escrow Services categories by the New York Law Journal in the publication’s annual “Best of” survey for 2019, earning it a place in the New York Law Journal’s Hall of Fame (awarded to companies that have ranked in the “Best of” survey for at least three of the past four years). The Bank also ranked second nationally in the Business Bank, Private Banking Services and Attorney Escrow Service categories of the National Law Journal’s 2019 “Best of” survey.

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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Investor Contact:

Eric R. Howell, Executive Vice President – Corporate and Business Development

646-822-1402

[email protected]



Media Contact:

Susan Turkell Lewis
646-822-1825

[email protected]

Source: Signature Bank