FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARCH 7, 201
For Further Information:
Investor Contact:
Eric R. Howell, Executive Vice President-Corporate & Business Development
646-822-1402, ehowell@signatureny.com
Media Contact:
Susan Turkell Lewis, 646-822-1825, slewis@signatureny.com
NEW YORK… MARCH 7, 2019 … Signature Bank (Nasdaq:SBNY), a New York-based full-service commercial bank, announced today the appointment of two professionals to new business origination roles and the promotion of several senior officers within its specialty equipment finance subsidiary, Signature Financial LLC. With this initiative, Signature Financial solidifies and strengthens its team of veteran finance professionals to better serve its growing national specialty finance business and clients.
Keith Connors was appointed Vice President, Capital Markets, creating additional capacity within Signature Financial’s Capital Markets team. In this role, Connor will contribute to the growth of Signature Financial’s Capital Markets business line and expanding new origination opportunities from current institutional account relationships. Connors, with eight years of specialty financing experience from GE Company and GE Capital, most recently was Assistant Vice President, Originations & Commercial Operations at GE Capital. He established its Industrial Finance segment, a finance organization focused on delivering incremental equipment and services revenue for GE Company’s Industrial businesses.
Nick Cremonese was named Account Officer – National Third-Party Intermediaries, a newly created position in which he will manage existing third-party intermediary relationships. Prior to joining Signature Financial, Cremonese was Vice President in the Global Liquidity Program at Credit Suisse. In this capacity, he managed a team of business analysts and was Product Lead for unsecured and wholesale funding, cash products as well as loans and deposits products globally. During his 11-year tenure at Credit Suisse, Cremonese also served as Project Manager for key investment bank stakeholders across Treasury, Liquidity and Front Office teams. In addition, he worked on the Fixed Income Treasury Trading Desk and earlier, in product control in equity capital markets.
Signature Financial also announced that six professionals were promoted into new roles. Robert (Bobby) Campbell was promoted to Director - Capital Markets. Campbell will continue to focus on driving portfolio growth and leading Signature Financial’s Capital Markets Buy Desk, Marine Finance Product as well as a Lender Finance Origination initiative. An 18-year finance veteran, Campbell joined Signature Financial in 2012 as Account Officer before being promoted to Vice President, and has contributed significantly to both Capital Markets Buy and Sell desk activity since joining the company.
Michael Ash originally joined Signature Financial in 2013 as Capital Markets Director and is now being promoted to Group Director, Regional Originations & Syndications. Ash will be responsible for direct regional business development, managing seven Executive Sales Officers located in Signature Bank’s metro-New York area footprint. He will also continue to head all syndication activity for Signature Financial, including equipment and franchise finance. Ash has spent nearly 30 years in the finance industry, most recently at U.S. Bank in equipment finance before joining Signature Financial.
Steven Robbins was promoted to the post of Senior Vice President, Director of Asset Management, overseeing asset and portfolio management. Robbins joined Signature Financial in 2012 as Director of Asset Management, from Capital One Equipment Leasing & Finance. Robbins’ equipment finance/leasing career spans 30+ years, which includes stints at GE Capital & AT&T Capital. Robbins is a current member and past Chairman of the ELFA Equipment Management Committee.
Steve Ratner was appointed to the post of Senior Vice President, Deputy Chief Risk Officer. Since joining Signature Financial in 2016, Ratner has contributed in multiple senior roles in risk mitigation and underwriting. Ratner will help grow the specialty finance portfolio while appropriately managing Signature Financial’s risk profile; leading process automation and improving process efficiency as well as reviewing and editing credit policy. He also worked at Capital One in underwriting for 11 of the 40 years of his finance career.
Steve Jason was named Group Director of Vehicle Finance where he will be responsible for strategic planning, budgeting, business development and client servicing across the vehicle funding channel. Jason came to Signature Financial in 2012 as Director of Vehicle Finance, focusing on building client relationships and originations. He too was previously at Capital One Bank, as Director of Business Development and previously served on the Board of Directors of the National Auto Finance Association and the N.Y. Chapter of the National Vehicle Leasing Association.
Michael Jones was appointed an Executive Sales Manager for the National Direct Equipment business channel, and will be leading a sales team that serves the Gulf Coast states. Jones, based in Magnolia, Texas, joined Signature Financial in 2015 as Executive Sales Officer from BancorpSouth Equipment Finance in Hattiesburg Miss., where he was Vice President, Finance Sales, overseeing direct origination sales. Jones is equipped to assume this leadership sales role, based on his 22-year finance sales career.
“These appointments are indicative of the recent growth and expansion within Signature Financial. We welcome Keith and Nick and look forward to their contributions. Over the years, we have been fortunate to attract many industry veterans, such as the individuals currently being recognized. These promotions are well deserved, as these dedicated professionals have each been very successful over the past several years and have directly contributed to the growth of our diverse, profitable portfolio in a safe and sound manner. Their cumulative efforts, along with that of their teammates, is reflected in Signature Financial’s portfolio, which in just over six years, grew to more than $4 billion at year end 2018,” said Walter Rabin, President and Chief Executive Officer at Signature Financial.
“Signature Bank continues to place emphasis on the specialty finance portion of our business. Similar to the recruitment of private client banking teams to our network, we are always seeking to add and advance talented professionals, whether it be through new appointments or promotions. The expansion of the Signature Financial team will support the continued growth and developments of the Bank as a whole,” noted Joseph J. DePaolo, President and Chief Executive Officer at Signature Bank.
Connors is a resident of Wykoff, NJ. Cremonese lives in Massapequa Park, N.Y. Campbell is a resident of Massapequa, N.Y. Ash lives in Plainview, N.Y. Robbins is a native of Port Chester, NY. Ratner resident in Smithtown, N.Y. Jason resides in Dix Hills, N.Y., Jones lives in Magnolia, Tex., a suburb of Houston.
About Signature Bank and Signature Financial LLC
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 Financial is dedicated to equipment finance and leasing, transportation financing, franchise finance and commercial marine finance. Signature Financial operates from 34 locations throughout the country. 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 $47.36 billion in assets, $36.42 billion in loans, $36.38 billion in deposits, $4.41 billion in equity capital and $3.78 billion in other assets under management as of December 31, 2018. 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 Best Business Bank, Best Private Bank and Best Attorney Escrow Services provider by the New York Law Journal in the publication’s annual “Best of” survey for 2018, 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 Best Business Bank, Best Private Bank and Best Attorney Escrow Services 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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