Scott Shay, Joseph DePaolo and John Tamberlane founded Signature in 1999 with backing from Israel’s biggest lender, Bank Hapoalim. On a personal bio page, Mr. Shay described himself as a “thought leader, and author of several widely read books on profound issues facing the Jewish community.” The bank went public in 2004.
One of Signature’s specialties was financing the purchase of taxi medallions, which authorize holders to operate cabs. It was known in New York for providing banking services to law firms and real estate companies, and for catering to wealthy families in the area.
Its clients had included some individuals associated with the Trump Organization, former President Donald J. Trump’s company. The bank lent money to Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, and to Mr. Kushner’s father, Charles. It also helped finance Mr. Trump’s Florida golf course.
Over the past decade, Signature had begun to expand its business nationally, and to the West Coast in particular.
But Signature ran afoul of some of the same issues that led to the demise of Silicon Valley Bank, in that most of its customers had holdings above $250,000.
Regulatory filings show that more than $79 billion, or close to nine-tenths, of Signature Bank’s roughly $88 billion in deposits were uninsured at the end of last year. As of last week, Signature said more than 80 percent of it deposits were from law firms, accounting firms, health care companies, manufacturers and real estate management companies.
The bank also said its digital asset-related client deposits stood at $16.52 billion. Signature was one of the few financial institutions that had opened its doors to taking deposits of crypto assets, a business it entered into in 2018.
This content was originally published here.
No Comments
Be the first to start a conversation