Signature Bank

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A New York-based full-service commercial bank that was closed by regulators in March 2023 after a rapid liquidity run.

Last updated August 21, 2026

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Overview

Signature Bank was an American full-service commercial bank established in 2001 by former Republic National Bank of New York executives and employees after Republic was acquired by HSBC. It opened with six New York-area offices and a relationship-driven model aimed at wealthy private clients, entrepreneurs, and middle-market businesses. Rather than relying heavily on mass-market advertising or conventional branch visibility, Signature recruited experienced bankers and encouraged them to bring established client relationships with them. The bank’s service model combined personal banking with commercial lending, deposits, private-client services, and specialized industry groups. The institution expanded from its original New York focus into a broader specialist bank. Its activities included commercial real estate lending, private-equity fund banking, venture banking, mortgage banking, corporate mortgage finance, equipment financing, investment services, and lending connected with taxi medallions. Signature Financial provided equipment financing and leasing, while Signature Securities Group offered investment-advisory services. The bank also developed a significant law-firm banking business and used a team-based compensation approach that rewarded bankers for the business they generated. Signature remained profitable and grew rapidly through the 2000s and 2010s. It completed an initial public offering in 2004 and traded on Nasdaq under SBNY. Its expansion accelerated after 2017, with offices and operations added in California, Nevada, and North Carolina. In 2018, Signature began accepting cryptocurrency-industry customers, making digital-asset banking a major part of its identity and deposit base. Its Signet platform, introduced in 2019, allowed approved customers to settle payments in real time through blockchain-based infrastructure without relying on third-party intermediaries. By 2021, cryptocurrency-related businesses accounted for roughly 30 percent of deposits according to contemporary reporting, although the bank later attempted to reduce its digital-asset exposure. The strategy also left Signature unusually dependent on large, uninsured deposits. The share of uninsured deposits rose from approximately 63 percent in 2018 to about 82 percent in 2021 and 89.3 percent when regulators closed the bank. At the end of 2022, Signature reported approximately $110.4 billion in assets and $82.6 billion in deposits. Its deposit base became vulnerable to rapid withdrawals from sophisticated commercial and digital-asset customers, particularly as confidence in cryptocurrency-focused financial institutions deteriorated and interest rates increased. Signature Bank was closed on March 12, 2023, by the New York State Department of Financial Services, two days after Silicon Valley Bank failed and shortly after Silvergate Bank announced its liquidation. Customers withdrew more than $10 billion in a single day amid concerns about the bank’s liquidity and exposure to cryptocurrency businesses. The FDIC was appointed receiver and operated the institution through a bridge bank. On March 19, 2023, the FDIC sold most deposits, branches, and certain assets to New York Community Bancorp for transfer to Flagstar Bank. Approximately $4 billion in digital-asset deposits and about $60 billion in loans were not included in that transaction. Customers Bancorp acquired Signature’s venture-banking portfolio and hired personnel from that unit. Subsequent regulatory and law-enforcement scrutiny focused on liquidity risk, governance, risk controls, insider-trading disclosures, and the adequacy of anti-money-laundering monitoring.

History

Signature Bank opened on May 1, 2001, after Joseph J. DePaolo and John Tamberlane left Republic National Bank of New York following its acquisition by HSBC. Scott A. Shay joined them as chairman. The founders recruited dozens of former Republic employees and opened six offices simultaneously in the New York metropolitan area. The new institution targeted affluent clients and owners of growing businesses, emphasizing direct relationships with bankers rather than conventional retail-bank branding. Bank Hapoalim supplied more than $60 million in initial capital. The strategy produced rapid early growth. Signature reached approximately $950 million in assets by February 2003 and became profitable relatively quickly, although it initially maintained a comparatively conservative balance sheet and lower net-interest margin. Its 2004 initial public offering placed the company on Nasdaq. During the following decade, the bank expanded deposits and loans while remaining strongly concentrated in the New York region. It became known for recruiting bankers from merged institutions and allowing those bankers to bring client relationships with them. Its branches were deliberately understated and the institution invested heavily in relationship management rather than broad consumer advertising. Signature broadened its business beginning in 2007 with a multifamily-lending unit. It added equipment financing through Signature Financial in 2012 and developed specialist practices serving law firms, commercial real estate, private-equity funds, technology companies, mortgage businesses, and other commercial sectors. Taxi-medallion lending later suffered from competition from ride-sharing platforms, but the bank continued to report overall profits. Its assets approached $50 billion by 2017. Geographic expansion followed. Signature opened its first West Coast private-client office in San Francisco in 2018 and added several Southern California locations in 2020. It entered North Carolina in 2019 by recruiting bankers associated with the former Square 1 Bank. In 2022 it opened an office in Reno, Nevada, and an operations center in City of Industry, California. The bank’s most consequential strategic change was its 2018 decision to serve cryptocurrency businesses. Signature created Signet, a permissioned blockchain-based payments network, in 2019. The network enabled approved customers to transfer funds in real time without traditional third-party settlement intermediaries. Digital-asset businesses became an important source of deposits, and the bank held deposits associated with the Circle-managed USDC ecosystem. The concentration helped propel the bank’s market valuation but also increased exposure to volatile and rapidly transferable deposits. Management subsequently sought to reduce digital-asset deposits, yet cryptocurrency-related businesses still represented a substantial share of deposits shortly before the bank failed. Signature’s commercial focus meant that many accounts exceeded the FDIC insurance limit. Uninsured deposits rose from about 63 percent in 2018 to 82 percent in 2021 and 89.3 percent at closure. Regulators later concluded that governance, liquidity planning, and risk controls had not kept pace with the bank’s rapid growth. Joseph DePaolo, its only chief executive during most of its existence, announced in February 2023 that he would leave the CEO role effective March 1 and become a senior adviser. The bank failed before the planned succession could stabilize the institution. On March 12, 2023, the New York State Department of Financial Services closed Signature Bank, citing a lack of confidence in its leadership and liquidity. The failure followed Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse and Silvergate’s liquidation, prompting a severe run by commercial and digital-asset customers. The FDIC established a bridge bank and later sold most of its deposits, branches, and selected assets to New York Community Bancorp for Flagstar Bank. Digital-asset deposits and a large loan portfolio were excluded. Customers Bancorp separately acquired Signature’s venture-banking portfolio and hired former employees from that unit. Investigations and post-failure reviews examined the bank’s risk management, governance, customer due diligence, insider-disclosure practices, and potential money-laundering risks.

2023
Bank closure and resolution
[2]FDIC establishes Signature Bridge Bankfdic.gov
New York regulators close the bank on March 12; the FDIC later transfers most operations to Flagstar Bank.
2019
Signet launches
[1]Signature Banken.wikipedia.org
Signature introduces its blockchain-based real-time settlement network for approved clients.
2018
Cryptocurrency clients accepted
[1]Signature Banken.wikipedia.org
The bank begins serving cryptocurrency businesses and expands to the West Coast.
2012
Equipment-finance platform added
[1]Signature Banken.wikipedia.org
Signature Financial expands the bank into equipment financing and leasing.
2007
Multifamily lending expansion
[1]Signature Banken.wikipedia.org
Signature launches a dedicated multifamily-lending business.
2004
Initial public offering
[1]Signature Banken.wikipedia.org
The bank lists on Nasdaq under the ticker SBNY.
2001
Bank opens in New York
[1]Signature Banken.wikipedia.org
Signature Bank begins operations with six New York-area offices and a private-client relationship-banking model.

Products and positioning

A relationship-oriented commercial bank serving affluent individuals, entrepreneurs, middle-market companies, professional firms, and specialized industries.

Banking services · 2001
Private-client banking
Signature’s core model paired affluent individuals and business owners with dedicated bankers. The offering combined deposits, credit, cash management, and broader financial coordination, relying on personal relationships rather than mass-market branch advertising.
Lending · 2001
Commercial lending
The bank provided loans to middle-market companies and specialized sectors, including commercial real estate, multifamily properties, private-equity funds, technology ventures, mortgage businesses, and professional firms.
Equipment finance · 2012
Signature Financial
Signature Financial offered equipment financing and leasing, extending the bank’s commercial platform beyond conventional deposits and loans. The unit also became associated with specialized lending, including taxi-medallion finance.
Digital payments · 2019
Signet
Signet was a permissioned blockchain payment network for approved clients. It supported real-time gross settlement without traditional intermediaries or transaction fees and was used by digital-asset, payroll, and logistics customers.
Investment services
Signature Securities Group
This subsidiary provided investment-advisory services alongside the bank’s commercial and private-client activities.

Controversies

2023
Liquidity failure and risk-control scrutiny
Regulators closed Signature after a deposit run exposed its dependence on uninsured commercial deposits and weaknesses in liquidity planning, governance, and risk controls. Subsequent reviews also examined whether the bank adequately monitored cryptocurrency-related transactions for money laundering.
Source
2023
Law-enforcement investigations after closure
The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission investigated aspects of Signature’s customer-monitoring and cryptocurrency-related activity after the bank failed.
Source

2023
Transfer most operations to Flagstar BankM&A
Background
Following the regulatory closure, the FDIC sought a buyer for the bridge bank and its branch network.
Action taken
The FDIC sold most deposits, branches, and selected assets to New York Community Bancorp for transfer to its Flagstar subsidiary.
Aftermath
Digital-asset deposits and a large loan portfolio remained outside the transaction, while Customers Bancorp acquired the venture-banking portfolio.
Source
2019
Launch SignetProduct launch
Background
Digital-asset and commercial customers needed faster settlement than traditional banking rails provided.
Action taken
Signature introduced Signet, a permissioned blockchain-based network for real-time fund transfers among approved clients.
Aftermath
The platform attracted hundreds of users and became a central component of the bank’s digital-asset proposition before the bank’s 2023 failure.
Source
2018
Enter cryptocurrency bankingStrategy
Background
Signature sought new growth areas as its traditional commercial and private-client franchise expanded.
Action taken
The bank began serving cryptocurrency companies and later developed related payment infrastructure.
Aftermath
Digital-asset customers became a major source of deposits and strategic visibility, but the concentration increased liquidity and compliance risks.
Source

Recent events

2023
Signature Bank is closed by New York regulators[2]FDIC establishes Signature Bridge Bankfdic.gov
Bankruptcy · Regulation
After customers withdrew more than $10 billion amid concerns following the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate Bank, New York regulators closed Signature and appointed the FDIC receiver.
2023
FDIC sells most Signature Bank operations to New York Community Bancorp[3]FDIC announces sale of Signature Bridge Bankfdic.gov
M&A
Most deposits, branches, and selected assets of the bridge bank were transferred to Flagstar Bank, while digital-asset deposits and a large loan portfolio were excluded.
2018
Signature Bank enters cryptocurrency banking[1]Signature Banken.wikipedia.org
Other
The bank began accepting cryptocurrency-industry customers, creating a substantial new deposit and payments business.
2004
Signature Bank completes initial public offering[1]Signature Banken.wikipedia.org
Other
The bank became publicly traded on Nasdaq under the symbol SBNY.
2001
Signature Bank begins operations with six New York-area offices[1]Signature Banken.wikipedia.org
Other
The new bank opened on May 1 with a private-client and middle-market relationship-banking model.

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