Signature Bank Names Veteran "Banker to Broadway" Barbara von Borstel Group Director and Senior Vice President

Throughout her 20-plus-year banking career, von Borstel focused on providing banking services to the Broadway theater community, including New York, London and Los Angeles productions. This encompassed serving theater owners, producers, business managers, productions and actors. Additionally, von Borstel served the banking needs of musical artists, professional athletes and high-net-worth individuals.

Most recently, von Borstel spent six years at TD Bank (formerly Commerce Bank) in New York City as a relationship banker. The greater part of her banking career and theatrical specialty emphasis was developed and sustained while at (the former) J.P. Morgan & Co. in New York, where she dedicated 17 years to creating and managing a targeted entertainment private banking business. Under her direction, the institution grew to become a leader in serving the theater community's financial needs.

During the course of her extensive, prominent career, von Borstel has managed the banking and financial services needs of a host of Broadway theatrical productions including Cats, Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Rent, Beauty and the Beast, Sunset Blvd., Mamma Mia and the current hit, Jersey Boys.

"While Signature Bank has established a reputation within the entertainment industry, Barbara brings a whole new dimension to our efforts in serving this area based on her decades of experience in catering to the Broadway community. Barbara will make a great addition to Tom Kasulka's private client banking team, which already has garnered solid relationships within the entertainment arena. We believe that Signature Bank is the perfect home for Barbara and her talents, and they will certainly complement this aspect of our business," explained Joseph J. DePaolo, President and Chief Executive Officer at Signature Bank.

Von Borstel will be based at Signature Bank's private client banking office at 565 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan within Kasulka's existing banking team.

Von Borstel added: "I am very excited to join Signature Bank. Signature Bank is known by bankers and clients alike for its commitment to client care and single-point-of-contact approach, which is why I chose to join this franchise. I know that at Signature Bank I am able to take the time and make the effort to offer highly personalized, dedicated care and service to my clients. This is the philosophy on which I built my career and Signature Bank has that same platform and culture. This is the way the Bank continues to really differentiate itself among other banking entities throughout metro-N.Y. and why I am excited to build my client relationships here."

Von Borstel, who lives in Forest Hills Gardens in Queens, N.Y., is a member of The Broadway Association, a not-for-profit business association devoted to the cultural and economic betterment of Midtown west, which comprises the Broadway theatre district. She is an event advisor for the New York Westminster Kennel Club Dog Museum Benefit. She also was a member of the UJA Jewish Federation Theater Division and a former event advisor for the New York Downtown Hospital Benefit Committee.

About Signature Bank

Signature Bank, member FDIC, is a New York-based full-service commercial bank with 22 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 FINRA/SIPC.

Signature Bank's 22 offices are located throughout the metropolitan New York area. In Manhattan - 261 Madison Avenue; 300 Park Avenue; 71 Broadway; 565 Fifth Avenue; 950 Third Avenue; 200 Park Avenue South and 1020 Madison Avenue. Brooklyn - 26 Court Street; 84 Broadway and 6321 New Utrecht Avenue. Westchester - 1C Quaker Ridge Road, New Rochelle and 360 Hamilton Avenue, White Plains. Long Island - 1225 Franklin Avenue, Garden City; 279 Sunrise Highway, Rockville Centre; 68 South Service Road, Melville; 923 Broadway, Woodmere; 40 Cuttermill Road, Great Neck and 100 Jericho Quadrangle, Jericho. Queens - 36-36 33rd Street, Long Island City and 78-27 37th Avenue, Jackson Heights. Bronx - 421 Hunts Point Avenue, Bronx. Staten Island - 2066 Hylan Blvd.

Since commencing operations in May 2001, the Bank has grown to $7.43 billion in assets, $5.84 billion in deposits, $581.5 million in equity capital and $2.48 billion in other assets under management as of March 31, 2009. Signature Bank's Tier 1 and risk-based capital ratios are significantly above the levels required to be considered well capitalized.

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, interest rates and the interest rate environment, loan and deposit growth, loan performance, operations, capitalization, new private client team hires, new office openings, the regulatory environment and business strategy. These statements often include words such as "may," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "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. These factors include but are not limited to: (i) prevailing economic and regulatory 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; (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; and (iv) competition for qualified personnel and desirable office locations. 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.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=5991383&lang=en

SOURCE: Signature Bank

Signature Bank 
Investor Contact: 
Eric R. Howell, 646-822-1402 
Chief Financial Officer 
ehowell@signatureny.com 
or 
Media Contact: 
Susan J. Lewis, 646-822-1825 
slewis@signatureny.com