Signature Bank launches new local authority lending subsidiary

Signature Public Funding (SPF) is to provide a range of municipal finance and tax-exempt lending and leasing products to government entities throughout the US, including state and local governments, school districts, fire and police and other municipal entities. The new national subsidiary is based in Towson, Md, where a new office recently opened.

Signature Bank named Donald S. Keough senior managing director of SPF to oversee day-to-day management and operations of the new subsidiary.

Keough, a lawyer by trade, has been involved in the public finance industry since 2002. In the three years prior to joining SPF, Keough practiced law privately, representing lenders and lessors in the municipal arena.

Earlier, he spent seven years as vice president at SunTrust Equipment Finance & Leasing Corp. in Towson, heading operations of the public finance and municipal lending division, where he was responsible for structured lease and loan transactions in the public and commercial sectors.

Concurrently, Richard C. Cumbers was appointed senior managing underwriter of SPF. He has been working in financial services for 20 years, having dedicated the past decade primarily to municipal and public lending. Most recently, he was a senior risk officer at Bridge Capital Leasing in Hunt Valley, Maryland (a division of Bank United).

Earlier in their careers, Cumbers worked with Keough at Sun Trust Equipment Finance & Leasing where they helped build, in tandem, a team that closed more than $1.2 billion in public finance transactions annually.

Additionally, Signature Public Funding named Tonia Lee, senior documentation officer, to support lending activities, who joins from Grant Capital Management, Inc. of Columbia Md., where she was an assistant vice president/senior portfolio manager responsible for all aspects of document drafting, negotiations and review.

This new subsidiary will be overseen by the management team of Signature Financial LLC, the Bank’s specialty finance subsidiary, which has extensive experience in the municipal finance sector.

Joseph J. DePaolo, Signature Bank president and chief executive officer said: “The creation of SPF complements the specialty finance business lines offered through Signature Financial that we launched back in April 2012. This new subsidiary will provide financing to municipalities for the acquisition of essential equipment for critical services as well as a range of infrastructure-enhancing projects.”

“This is a market where we see opportunity, and we are confident we are building a team of industry experts to serve its needs.”

He added; “Perhaps most importantly, SPF intends to deliver the same high levels of service to which Signature’s commercial clients have grown accustomed. Our relationship-based approach will be the hallmark of SPF as well. Don and Rich have dedicated much of their careers to public finance and bring deep experience and relationships to our institution.”

Keough commented on the establishment of the new subsidiary: “This new venture at Signature Bank is a very exciting one for me and Rich as well as the team we are creating here. By leveraging Signature Bank’s proven platform and the strength of its reputation coupled with the success of Signature Financial, we are confident in the support we will garner for the tax exempt business and the team we will establish to service the municipal space.”

Since commencing operations in May 2001, Signature Bank has grown to $28.6 billion in assets, $24.0 billion in deposits, $2.6 billion in equity capital and $3.6 billion in other assets under management as of March 31, 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 the only large cap bank to appear on Forbes’ list of America’s 50 Most Trustworthy Financial Companies.