Signature Bank Named Number One in Three Categories of New York Law Journal’s 11th Annual “Best Of” Survey

Secures Top Spot in Best in Business Bank, Private Bank and Business Escrow Services Categories; Ranks in Top Three in Business Bank Category Annually for Past 11 Years

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), a New York-based full-service commercial bank, announced today it placed #1 in three categories of the New York Law Journal’s “Best of” 11^th annual survey of the New York legal community. These include Business Bank, Private Bank and Business Escrow Services (formerly Attorney Escrow Services). The 2020 New York Law Journal ranking indicates the 11^th consecutive year where Signature Bank earned a top three position in one or more of these same categories.

The rankings, which were revealed in the September 28^th, 2020 edition of the New York-area’s leading legal trade publication, reflect the opinions of thousands of attorneys and other legal professionals who were eligible to cast votes in 80+ legal-related categories. The voting process is purely democratic, and the results represent the candid viewpoints of New York Law Journal readers and members of the New York legal community.

Additionally, based on the Bank’s 2020 placement on the list, it earned inclusion for the third consecutive year in New York Law Journal’s “Best of” Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame is awarded to entities that placed in “Best of” for at least three of the past four years thus repeatedly receiving the highest ratings from New York Law Journal readers and the New York legal community.

Since 2010 when the New York Law Journal began surveying its readers for its “Best of” listing, Signature Bank has consistently secured the top spot or ranked in the top three in the Business Bank, Private Bank and Business Escrow Services categories. For the past 11 consecutive years, the Bank ranked #1 in the Best Business Bank category six times and also placed in the top three five others. It is also the 10^th consecutive year where Signature Bank ranked in the top three of the Private Bank category (number one for four consecutive years), and the ninth straight year it placed in the top three in the Business Escrow Services category (including ranking number one for the past four straight years and six times overall).

“Signature Bank built its reputation on catering to clients through our distinctive single-point-of-contact model. It is these founding principles and client-centric structure that results in our continually high rankings annually across these three categories of New York Law Journal’s ‘Best of’ rankings. Over the years, the Bank established a strong presence by serving legal clientele, and this can be evidenced by the consistent results independently garnered through this program. We continue to stand out – time and again – as top contenders amongst some of the world’s largest mega-banks,” explained Joseph J. DePaolo, Signature Bank President and Chief Executive Officer.

“We value the trust our law firms place in our institution and are gratified our clients took time to vote for Signature Bank. And, we also greatly appreciate the opportunity the New York Law Journal affords institutions that serve the legal profession to be recognized through their ‘Best of’ platform,” DePaolo concluded.

New York Law Journal is a reliable news source for attorneys, designed to keep the fast-paced New York-area legal community up to date on industry trends and developments. The publication is owned by ALM, a global leader in specialized business news and information serving the legal, real estate, consulting, insurance and investment advisory industries.

About Signature Bank

Signature Bank, member FDIC, is a New York-based full-service commercial bank with 35 private client offices throughout the New York metropolitan area including Connecticut as well as in California and Charlotte, N.C. 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’s revolutionary blockchain-based digital payments platform, Signet™, allows the Bank’s commercial clients to make real-time 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 $60.35 billion in assets, $45.20 billion in loans, $50.23 billion in deposits, $4.86 billion in equity capital and $3.66 billion in other assets under management as of June 30, 2020. Signature Bank’s Tier 1 and risk-based capital ratios are 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 10th consecutive year in 2020; and, named number one in the Business Bank, Private Bank and Business Escrow Services categories by the New York Law Journal in the publication’s annual “Best of” survey for 2020, earning it a place in its 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 Business Escrow Service categories of both the 2019 and 2020 National Law Journal’s “Best of” survey.

For more information, please visit https://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, our business strategy and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on each of the foregoing and on our business overall. These statements often include words such as “may,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “potential,” “opportunity,” “could,” “project,” “seek,” “target”, “goal”, “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, (vi) our ability to maintain the continuity, integrity, security and safety of our operations and (vii) competition for qualified personnel and desirable office locations. All of these factors are subject to additional uncertainty in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is having an unprecedented impact on all aspects of our operations, the financial services industry and the economy as a whole. 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.

Contacts

Investor Contact:

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

646-822-1402, ehowell@signatureny.com

Media Contact:

Susan Turkell Lewis, 646-822-1825, slewis@signatureny.com