FAIRPORT, NY – [April 21, 2015] – First American Equipment Finance was named as one of the 65 Best Companies to Work for in the state of New York for the fourth consecutive year. “First American is blessed with a smart, innovative, hardworking staff that is dedicated to building the very best commercial equipment finance company in the world,” said Bill Verhelle, CEO of First American Commercial Bancorp, Inc. d/b/a First American Equipment Finance. “I am honored to work with these bright, passionate professionals who are reinventing the way business is done in this $800B (U.S.) industry. There has never been a more exciting time to be in this business; and I have never had the honor to work with a better group of people,” said Verhelle.

First American Equipment Finance was recognized for its outstanding achievement in employee satisfaction and engagement. The recognition was based on the results of third-party, independently compiled surveys of all First American full-time employees.

[ABOUT THE BEST COMPANIES TO WORK FOR IN NEW YORK STATE] Created in 2007, these annual awards evaluate and rank the best places of employment based on employee satisfaction and engagement, as well as workplace practices and policies. The 2014 Best Companies to Work for in New York State Awards is a partnership of the New York Society for Human Resource Management, The Business Council of New York, Best Companies Group and Journal Multimedia Corporation. www.BestCompaniesNY.com

[ABOUT FIRST AMERICAN EQUIPMENT FINANCE] On May 1, 2012 First American Equipment Finance (www.faef.com) became a wholly owned subsidiary of Los Angeles, CA-based City National Bank (www.cnb.com). First American is ranked among the largest equipment finance companies in the United States (http://www.monitor-digital.com/monitor/2014_monitor_100), and provides commercial equipment financing to the most creditworthy and sophisticated commercial borrowers in the country. Before being acquired by City National, First American was recognized eight times on the Inc. Magazine’s 500/5000 listing of the fastest growing private companies in the United States (http://www.inc.com/profile/first-american-equipment-finance). First American has also been recognized four times among the Best Places to Work in New York State (10-249 employees) (http://bestcompaniesny.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=51) , and most recently as one of Fortune Magazine’s 20 Great Workplaces in Financial Services (http://fortune.com/2015/02/18/20-great-workplaces-in-financial-services/), as also profiled by Great Rated (http://us.greatrated.com/first-american-equipment).

### PRESS CONTACT: Karen Pomazal, Senior Vice President, Marketing 585.643.3381 | karen.pomazal@faef.com