Signature Bank President and CEO Joseph J. DePaolo Named Recipient of Alfred B. DelBello Visionary Award
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), a New York-based full-service commercial bank, announced today that President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph J. DePaolo was named the recipient of the Alfred B. DelBello Visionary Award by the Westchester County Association, the leading business membership organization in Westchester County, focused on economic vitality and development in Westchester and the surrounding region.
This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151130005209/en/
l. to r. - Joseph J. DePaolo, President and CEO, Signature Bank; William M. Mooney, Jr., President and CEO, Westchester County Association; Dee DelBello, Publisher, Westchester and Fairfield County Business Journals and WAG Magazine; and, Damon DelBello, M.D. (Photo: Business Wire)
The Alfred B. DelBello Visionary Award applauds visionaries and honors the late DelBello, chairman emeritus of the Westchester County Association and an outstanding public official, attorney, environmentalist, businessman, mentor, humanitarian, animal welfare advocate and family man. DelBello’s friends, colleagues, family members and many members of the Westchester business community came together to pay tribute to him at a dinner held on November 19, 2015, at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, N.Y.
DePaolo was chosen to receive this honor based on his vision for creating Signature Bank as well as his passion and drive for subsequently growing the client-centric institution to $32 billion in assets (as of September 30, 2015).
DelBello served on Signature Bank’s board since January 2003. He was a partner in the White Plains, N.Y.-based law firm of DelBello Donnellan Weingarten Wise & Wiederkehr, LLP and had held several public service roles including Lieutenant Governor of the State of New York from 1983 to 1985, Westchester County Executive from 1974 to 1983 and Mayor of Yonkers from 1970 to 1974. While serving on Signature Bank’s Board, DelBello made significant contributions not only as a member but also through various committee chair responsibilities, including leading the Audit, Enterprise Risk and Nominating Committees at various points in time. In his honor, Signature Bank officially dedicated the boardroom at its midtown Manhattan headquarters recently, designating it ‘The Alfred B. DelBello Board Room.’ A plaque depicting this resides at the entryway to serve as a constant reminder of DelBello’s commitment and contributions to Signature Bank.
“All of us at Signature Bank congratulate Joe on this prominent, meaningful and perhaps most importantly, very fitting award. Joe and Al were long-time friends and colleagues; in fact, Joe nominated Al to serve on Signature Bank’s board before it became a publicly traded company. Both possess similar innate qualities - integrity, loyalty, dedication, authenticity and humility - all of which have always been embraced by the colleagues that surrounded them in their respective roles. Joe continues to carry out the original vision of Signature Bank each and every day in his role as its leader and visionary. It is an honor for all of us to work with Joe, just as it was an honor for us to have had the opportunity to work with Al,” said Signature Bank Chairman of the Board Scott A. Shay.
During his acceptance speech at the awards dinner, DePaolo recalled one of his most memorable conversations with DelBello: “Al always provided unwavering support to me throughout my career and to Signature Bank during various stages of our growth and expansion. I remember when I decided to start a new bank with my co-founders, Scott Shay and John Tamberlane; I made dozens of calls to my contacts to share details about this new endeavor. The most supportive person was Al, and I’ll never forget that. He saw the potential in my vision back then and inspired me to execute on that vision.”
“I am gratified to receive this honor, and thank the Westchester County Association for this prestigious acknowledgment. I also want to thank Dee DelBello, my close friend and Al’s wife, for her support. Over the years, we developed a strong friendship and working relationship, which will continue to strengthen as we always remember Al.”
Dee DelBello, publisher of the Westchester and Fairfield County Business Journals as well as WAG Magazine, commented on DePaolo’s recognition: “In presenting Joe with his award, I was fondly reminded of Al's comments after bank board meetings when he would cite just how ‘good Joe is and how he knows exactly how to run and grow a bank.’ Joe is a true visionary banker who – as co-founder of Signature Bank – helped take the institution to amazing heights in just 14 years – so notable that Forbes recently named it the ‘Best Bank in America.’”
More than 700 members of Westchester's business community were on hand to celebrate DelBello’s life work at the Westchester County Association event. To see more, please visit: http://westchester.org/article.php?a=633#sthash.Vbx8hYsf.dpuf.
DePaolo resides in New Rochelle, where he has lived with his family for nearly 30 years. He is a graduate of Iona College in Westchester, which he attended on a full academic scholarship. He graduated Summa Cum Laude, earning a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration in accounting. DePaolo is a member of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. During the course of his career, he has earned numerous awards for his business achievements and local community involvement.
About Signature Bank
Signature Bank, member FDIC, is a New York-based full-service commercial bank with 29 private client offices throughout the New York metropolitan area, including those in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Westchester, Long Island, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island and Connecticut. The Bank’s growing network of private client banking teams serves the needs of privately owned businesses, their owners and senior managers.
Signature Bank offers a wide variety of business and personal banking products and services. Its 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.
Since commencing operations in May 2001, the Bank has grown to $31.92 billion in assets, $26.61 billion in deposits, $2.82 billion in equity capital and $3.52 billion in other assets under management as of September 30, 2015. Signature Bank's Tier 1 and risk-based capital ratios are significantly above the levels required to be considered well capitalized.
Signature Bank was named the Best Bank in America by Forbes for 2015 and ranked third on leading trade journal Bank Director’s 2015 Bank Performance Scorecard for banks with assets between $5 and $50 billion.
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. 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 and business strategy. These statements often include words such as "may," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," “potential,” “opportunity,” “could,” “project,” “seek,” “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 and (vi) competition for qualified personnel and desirable office locations. 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.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151130005209/en/