- Business
- Signature Bank (SBNYP) operates as a depository preferred stock representing fractional interests in the former Signature Bank, a full-service commercial bank that ceased operations in March 2023 following regulatory seizure by the New York State Department of Financial Services and the FDIC. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in New York City, the bank previously provided commercial banking products including checking accounts, money market accounts, escrow deposit accounts, cash concentration accounts, and certificates of deposit; lending products such as commercial and industrial loans, real estate loans, and letters of credit; asset management and investment services; retirement products like individual retirement accounts; wealth management for high-net-worth clients; small business administration loan purchases and sales; and insurance products covering health, life, disability, and long-term care for business and private clients. It served businesses, individuals, institutions, and cryptocurrency clients through 40 private client offices primarily in the New York metropolitan area, with additional locations in Connecticut, California, Nevada, and North Carolina, focusing on commercial real estate lending, private equity, venture banking, mortgage servicing, and equipment financing via subsidiaries. The bank operated in two segments: Commercial Banking, encompassing commercial real estate and business lending, and Specialty Finance. Signature Bank collapsed amid a bank run triggered by exposure to cryptocurrency deposits, which comprised about 20-30% of its total deposits, alongside rising interest rates devaluing securities; regulators closed it on March 12, 2023, marking the third-largest U.S. bank failure with $110.4 billion in assets and $88 billion in deposits at year-end 2022, attributed to poor management and inadequate risk oversight per FDIC reports. Most deposits and assets transferred to Flagstar Bank, a New York Community Bancorp subsidiary, excluding certain crypto-related holdings; trading of SBNYP persists on OTC markets as a non-operating security. No active operations, new products, or expansions continue post-failure.