Signature Bank Announces Changes to Independent Members of Its Board of Directors

Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), a New York-based, full-service commercial bank, announced today new appointments to its Board of Directors. The diverse Board remains at nine members, six of whom are independent directors.

Effective March 31, 2022, Jalak Jobanputra joined the Board, replacing Kathryn (Katie) A. Byrne, who stepped down in accordance with term limits adopted in 2018 in connection with the Bank’s corporate governance and board refreshment initiatives. Byrne served on the Board from 2005-2022 and was the longest tenured independent director.

Jobanputra brings nearly two decades of investment experience in financial technology and early-stage technology enterprises. She currently serves as Managing Partner of Future\Perfect Ventures (FPV), which she founded in 2014. FPV is an early-stage venture capital fund investing in decentralized technology focused on crypto-assets, blockchain technology and the buildout of Web3. Prior to FPV, Jobanputra was Director of Emerging Market Mobile Investments at Omidyar Network, a philanthrocapitalist fund started by Pierre Omidyar, co-founder of eBay. Previously, she worked at Intel Capital investing in enterprise software in Silicon Valley. Other roles held were at New Venture Partners and the NYC Investment Fund, where she formed one of NYC’s first seed funds and helped establish the Fintech Innovation Lab in 2010. She began her career as a media/tech/telecom investment banker in New York City and London. Jobanputra was awarded Institutional Investor’s Most Powerful Fintech Dealmakers from 2016-2018. She was the recipient of the 2018 Microsoft VC Trailblazer Award. In 2017, Jobanputra was cited as a Top Five Investor Powering the Blockchain Boom by Crunchbase, which cited FPV as among the top venture capital funds in blockchain at a time when the industry was just in its embryonic stage. She is a magna cum laude graduate of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in economics (concentration in finance). She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from the Annenberg School for Communication of the University of Pennsylvania. She received her Master’s degree in Business Administration from Kellogg School of Management.

Effective April 2, 2022, Michael V. Pappagallo rejoins the Board. Pappagallo previously served one three-year term, from April 2013-April 2016. Pappagallo replaces George J. Tsunis, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Chartwell Hotels. Tsunis resigned from the Board on April 2, 2022 to assume the role of U.S. Ambassador to Greece. He served one year of his three-year term, from 2021-2022.

Pappagallo’s background spans more than 40 years of experience in financial and operations management, primarily in the commercial real estate and financial industries. Currently, he is President of Aspen Realty Advisors LLC, a real estate consulting firm he founded in 2016, which provides expertise in strategy, capital structure and financing and infrastructure as well as direct transaction support. He also is the former President and Chief Financial Officer of Brixmor Property Group, a real estate investment trust focused on shopping centers, with an expansive portfolio of open-air retail malls. He spent 16 years at Kimco Realty Corporation as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Pappagallo also was Chief Financial Officer of GE Capital’s Commercial Real Estate business and held various other financial and business development positions for its lending and leasing businesses. Earlier, he served as a Certified Public Accountant and Senior Manager in the audit practice at KPMG. Pappagallo is a graduate of Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y., where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration.

“These changes represent an exciting time for Signature Bank as we enter our 21^st year in operation. I want to take this opportunity to thank Katie for 17 years of service to our institution. Her role as a director as well as her position serving on various committees -- Compensation, Examining and Risk -- proved invaluable to our growth and market position over the years. I would also like to thank George for his commitment to the Bank. He has been an important member, serving on both the Compensation and Credit Committees,” said Scott A. Shay, Chairman of the Board.

“Concurrently, we welcome Jalak and Mike. Jalak brings deep expertise in digital finance as one of the first investors to identify digital and cryptocurrency ecosystems while also recognizing their revolutionary relevance to and influence on the financial services industry. Jalak’s guidance will be advantageous as we further strengthen our pioneering, leadership role in the digital asset and blockchain space. Mike’s vast experience in the commercial real estate and financial arenas was beneficial to our Board during his previous term, and we are confident his knowledge will continue to bode well for our future growth trajectory. On behalf of the entire Signature Bank Board, we thank Katie and George for their service and wisdom and recognize the significant contributions they have made to this institution. We all look forward to the positive impact Jalak and Mike will have on the Bank in their new Board roles,” Shay concluded.

About Signature Bank

Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), member FDIC, is a New York-based, full-service commercial bank with 38 private client offices throughout the metropolitan New York area, as well as those in Connecticut, California and North Carolina. Through its single-point-of-contact approach, the Bank’s private client banking teams primarily serve the needs of privately owned businesses, their owners and senior managers.

The Bank has two wholly owned subsidiaries: Signature Financial, LLC provides equipment finance and leasing; and Signature Securities Group Corporation, a licensed broker-dealer, investment adviser and member FINRA/SIPC, offers investment, brokerage, asset management and insurance products and services.

Since commencing operations in May 2001, Signature Bank reached $118.45 billion in assets as of December 31, 2021. With $106.13 billion in deposits at year-end 2021, Signature Bank placed 19^th on S&P Global’s list of the largest banks in the U.S., based on deposits.

Signature Bank was the first FDIC-insured bank to launch a blockchain-based digital payments platform. Signet™ allows commercial clients to make real-time payments in U.S. dollars, 24/7/365 and was also the first solution to be approved for use by the NYS Department of Financial Services.

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. 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 expectations regarding 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, business strategy and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on each of the foregoing and on our business overall. Forward-looking 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. Additional risks are described in our quarterly and annual reports filed with the FDIC. 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. 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.

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