Signature Bank Announces Buyback of Common Shares

Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), a New York-based, full-service commercial bank, announced today updated financial figures as of March 8, 2023 and reiterated its strong, well-diversified financial position and limited digital-asset related deposit balances in the wake of industry developments.

To this end, Signature Bank has:

• A proven, stable commercial banking business model with in excess of $100 billion in well-diversified assets across nine national business lines and nearly 130 commercial banking teams spanning its metropolitan New York area and West Coast footprint;
• A diversified deposit mix, with more than 80 percent of deposits coming from middle market businesses, such as law firms, accounting practices, healthcare companies, manufacturing companies and real estate management firms;
• A high level of capital as evidenced by a common equity tier 1 risk-based capital ratio of 10.42 percent, which is well in excess of regulatory requirements, as of year-end 2022;
• Investment-grade long- and short-term credit ratings, which were recently affirmed by Fitch Ratings, Kroll Bond Rating Agency (KBRA) and Moody’s Investors Services; and,
• A strong liquidity position, with the following financial balances (unaudited) as of March 8, 2023:
  • Cash held on balance sheet of approximately $4.54 billion
  • Borrowing balances (excluding subordinated debt) of $6.58 billion, with additional capacity of approximately $29.01 billion
  • Marketable liquid securities of approximately $26.41 billion
  • Deposit balances of $89.17 billion, which are up $576 million since year-end 2022. This includes the deliberate reduction in digital asset-related client deposits of $1.27 billion, resulting in a balance of $16.52 billion in digital asset-related client deposits
  • Loan balances of $71.81 billion, which are lower by $1.99 billion since year-end 2022, as the Bank executes on its previously announced strategy to reduce loan balances in its larger business lines; and,
• Over the course of this week and thus far for the quarter, we have repurchased $55.0 million of common stock within our previously disclosed share repurchase authorization.

Furthermore, in January 2023, the Bank announced a 25 percent increase in its common stock dividend to $2.80 per share annually, the first increase since the dividend was established in 2018. For more information on Signature Bank’s financial position, review its Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2022, which can be found here.

“We want to make it clear again that Signature Bank is a well-diversified, full-service commercial bank with more than two decades of history and solid performance serving middle market businesses. We have built a strong reputation serving commercial clients through nine business lines and reached in excess of $100 billion in assets by continually executing our single-point-of-contact, relationship-based model where banking teams are capable of meeting all client needs,” said Joseph J. DePaolo, Signature Bank Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer.

“As a reminder, Signature Bank does not invest in, does not trade, does not hold, does not custody and does not lend against or make loans collateralized by digital assets,” DePaolo concluded.

“We have repeatedly communicated that our relationships in the digital asset space are limited to U.S. dollar deposits only, and we remain fully committed to executing on our plan to deliberately reduce these deposits further. Since we opened our doors, we have been a ‘deposit-first’ institution and have always been committed to our depositors’ safety, first and foremost. As shown by our current metrics, we intentionally maintain a high level of capital, strong liquidity profile and solid earnings, which continues to differentiate us from competitors, especially during challenging times,” added Eric R. Howell, President and Chief Operating Officer.

About Signature Bank

Signature Bank, member FDIC, is a New York-based full-service commercial bank with 40 private client offices throughout the metropolitan New York area, as well as those in Connecticut, California, Nevada, 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. 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 blockchain-based solution to be approved for use by the NYS Department of Financial Services.

Since commencing operations in May 2001, Signature Bank reported $110.36 billion in assets and $88.59 billion in deposits as of December 31, 2022. Signature Bank placed 19^th on S&P Global’s list of the largest banks in the U.S., based on deposits as of year-end 2021.

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' 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. Forward-looking statements may also address our sustainability progress, plans, and goals (including climate change and environmental-related matters and disclosures), which may be based on standards for measuring progress that are still developing, internal controls and processes that continue to evolve, and assumptions that are subject to change in the future. 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 and the conflict in Ukraine, which are having impacts 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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