Signature Bank Names David Saunders Group Director at Its Melville, New York, Office; 24-Year Banking Veteran Recruited From Bank of America to Lead Bank's Second Private Client Team in Melville

Business Wire, Oct 18, 2005

NEW YORK -- Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), a New York-based full-service commercial bank, announced today the appointment of David Saunders to the post of Group Director and Senior Vice President at the firm's two-year-old Melville, Long Island, office. Signature Bank's Melville private client office is at 58 South Service Road.

Saunders joins Signature Bank from Bank of America's headquarters on Broadhollow Rd. in Melville. Most recently, he served as senior vice president -- middle market lending, a position he held for seven years. Previously, Saunders was a vice president at EAB. Saunders, whose career in the Long Island commercial banking and finance arena spans more than two decades, began his career with National Bank of North America (a Nat-West predecessor) in 1981.

Expected to follow Saunders to Signature Bank-Melville is Joanne Neville, who will be named Senior Client Associate for Saunders' team when she joins at month end. Neville has a 15-year tenure with Bank of America and its predecessor companies. She has worked directly with Saunders for the past seven years.

"David is a welcome addition to the Melville office as well as to our expanding presence on Long Island. His banking expertise, particularly in the lending arena, will add to our Long Island growth efforts," noted Signature Bank president and chief executive officer, Joseph J. DePaolo.

"David's significant experience in commercial lending will prove beneficial as we continue to expand our lending efforts throughout Long Island. During his extensive career, David has focused on meeting the commercial lending needs of a wide range of businesses across both Nassau and Suffolk counties. Both David and Joanne's proven ability to service the day-to-day client relationships complement this expertise. We look forward to the contributions David and his team will make toward growing deposits as well as strengthening our commercial lending efforts, which is part of the Bank's focus to expand our Long Island business," continued DePaolo.

Saunders commented on his new position at the Bank, stating: "Signature's operating structure affords me the ability to better serve my clients by positioning me as the single point of contact for their financial needs. I know clients will recognize and appreciate the higher level of service, and I look forward to growing my book of business with Signature Bank."

Saunders resides in Stony Brook, N.Y., with his wife and three children. He earned his bachelor of arts degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook and a master's in business administration from New York University in Manhattan.

Neville is a resident of Holbrook, N.Y., where she lives with her husband.

Signature Bank's Melville office opened in May 2004. The Bank now operates 13 offices throughout the metro-New York area and employs 36 private client banking teams, led by 45 Group Directors.

About Signature Bank

Signature Bank, member FDIC, is a New York-based full-service commercial bank with 13 private client offices located in the New York metropolitan area, serving the needs of privately owned businesses, their owners and senior managers through dozens of private client groups. The Bank offers a wide variety of business and personal banking products and services as well as investment, brokerage, asset management and insurance products and services through its subsidiary, Signature Securities Group Corporation, a licensed broker-dealer, investment adviser and member NASD/SIPC.

Since commencing operations in May 2001, the Bank has grown to nearly $3.8 billion in assets, $2.9 billion in deposits, $349 million in equity capital and approximately $1.18 billion in other assets under management as of June 30, 2005.

Signature Bank's 13 offices are located throughout the metropolitan New York area. In Manhattan -- 261 Madison Avenue; 300 Park Avenue; 71 Broadway; 565 Fifth Avenue and 950 Third Avenue. Brooklyn -- 26 Court Street and 84 Broadway. Westchester -- 1C Quaker Ridge Road, New Rochelle. Long Island -- 1225 Franklin Avenue, Garden City; 279 Sunrise Highway, Rockville Centre; 58 South Service Road, Melville and 923 Broadway, Woodmere. Queens -- 36-36 33rd Street in Long Island City.

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. Forward-looking statements include information concerning our future results, operations and business strategy. These statements often include words such as "may," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "estimate" or 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. These factors include but are not limited to: (i) prevailing economic conditions; (ii) changes in interest rates, loan demand, real estate values, and competition, which can materially affect origination levels and gain on sale results in our business, as well as other aspects of our financial performance; and (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. Additional factors are described in our quarterly and annual reports.