Veteran Banking Teams Join in Midtown Manhattan and Greenwich, Conn.

NEW YORK … May 11, 2016 … Signature Bank (Nasdaq:SBNY), a New York-based full-service commercial bank, announced today the appointment of two private client banking teams, one to be based from the Bank’s office at 485 Madison Avenue in New York City; the other in Greenwich, Conn.

Jason Birnbaum was named Group Director and Senior Vice President, Meredith Epstein was appointed to the role of Associate Group Director and Vice President and Vincent Pensato will serve as Senior Client Associate. This team, which will call the Bank’s Madison Avenue office home, joins from First Republic Bank, where all three members worked together for several years.

Birnbaum brings nearly 20 years of financial services experience to his new role; 10 of which were spent at First Republic Bank. Most recently, he served as Senior Managing Director – Private Banking and Lending, specializing in catering to clients engaged in the private equity and hedge fund arenas as well as those in real estate. Previously, he was a Vice President at JPMorgan Chase in New York City.

Epstein spent six years at First Republic as a Senior Preferred Banker, where she primarily handled business development and client research and analyses.

Pensato was most recently an Associate – Relationship Management, where he handled account management, overseeing client relationships as well as mortgage underwriting and sales.

Additionally, a five-member team joins Signature Bank’s Greenwich private client banking office from Citibank, N.A.’s commercial banking group. The team is led by newly appointed Group Director and Senior Vice President Jonathan DeMarco.

Armand Frusciante, Andrea Lawson and Eduardo Missura were each named Group Director and Senior Vice President, and the team will be supported by Louisa Morrone, who will serve as Senior Client Associate.

DeMarco spent nearly 13 years at Citibank, most recently serving as Middle Market Director and Senior Vice President, during which time he managed a team of several relationship managers. Earlier, he spent approximately five years as the Northeast Region Director of Business and Middle Market Banking, overseeing Hudson Valley and Connecticut.

Frusciante, with 16 years of banking expertise, spent the past five years as Senior Vice President and Relationship Manager in commercial banking, during which time he was responsible for business development throughout Connecticut.

Lawson’s extensive banking career spans more than 16 years, all of which were spent in the commercial banking group. Before joining Signature Bank, Lawson was Senior Vice President – Middle Market Relationship Manager, Northeast Region, handling growth and retention of the client portfolio as well as new business development. The territories Lawson covered included Northern New Jersey, Rockland and Westchester Counties and Connecticut.

Missura spent his eight-year banking career in the commercial banking area, covering the Hudson Valley and Connecticut. Previously, he was a Credit Relationship Manager for the Hudson Valley and Connecticut markets, targeting middle market businesses.

Morrone spent 23 years at Citibank, most recently supporting the business banking group within commercial banking, where she provided support and service to the entire team and client base.

“We continue to identify and attract strong teams of talented bankers in the marketplace who share the same values in terms of the type and level of service and dedication Signature Bank affords its clients. As the Bank grows in size and stature, we are leveraging the solid reputation and proven model we have built as we become more attractive to highly regarded banking professionals who prefer our streamlined processes and client-first philosophy. We look forward to the significant contributions both of these seasoned teams will make to our franchise,” explained Signature Bank 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 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 $34.90 billion in assets, $25.04 billion in loans, $28.11 billion in deposits, $3.37 billion in equity capital and $5.20 billion in other assets under management as of March 31, 2016. Signature Bank’s Tier 1 and risk-based capital ratios are significantly above the levels required to be considered well capitalized.

Signature Bank ranked sixth on Forbes’ Best and Worst Banks in America 2016 list and 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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