Signature Bank Announces Support of Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD)

Rhea-AI Summary

Signature Bank (NASDAQ: SBNY) has officially joined the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) as of August 2022, enhancing its commitment to transparency regarding climate risks. The bank’s recent initiatives include disclosing Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions and diversity data from its 2022 EEO-1 report. This move aligns with shareholder demands for greater ESG transparency and builds on Signature's sustainability efforts showcased in its 2021 Social Impact Report. With $116 billion in assets as of June 30, 2022, Signature Bank continues to focus on community impact and responsible lending practices.

Positive

• Joined TCFD for enhanced climate risk transparency.
• Plans to disclose Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions.
• Aligned with ESG frameworks per shareholder requests.
• Demonstrated growth with $116 billion in assets.

Negative

• None.

Bank Also Engages in Initiatives to Measure and Report Scope 1 and Scope 2 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), a New York-based, full-service national commercial bank, announced today that effective August 2022, it became an official supporter of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). Established in 2015 by the Financial Stability Board, The TCFD has developed a framework to help public companies and other organizations disclose climate-related risks and opportunities.

By joining the roughly 3,400 TCFD supporters, Signature Bank is demonstrating greater transparency through climate risk disclosures. Ultimately, this will allow stakeholders to better assess the impact of risks associated with climate change in comparison to Signature Bank’s business model.

Following the publication of Signature Bank’s 2021 Social Impact Report, the institution is building on its momentum over the past year to align with industry-standard frameworks to assist in increasing transparency with regard to improving the communities in which it operates. As part of its efforts, Signature Bank engaged a management consulting firm, specializing in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) to advise on company-wide ESG strategies, including implementation of TCFD’s guidelines.

Throughout the past several years, Signature Bank has continuously increased its commitment to ESG disclosures. To this end, in response to shareholders’ call for greater transparency, the Bank shared information through the lens of the Sustainability Accounting Standard Board (SASB) framework for the first time in its 2021 Social Impact Report.

As part of this ongoing commitment, the Bank is also announcing today its intent to disclose Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions (produced from its own operations), as well as diversity data from its 2022 EEO-1 report.

“Since our inception 21 years ago, this institution has been focused on ensuring its lending practices and all we do positively impacts the communities we serve. The adoption of our purpose statement, ’Looking Forward. Giving Back.,’ is our way of articulating these core values, including transparency for all stakeholders,” explained Scott Shay, Signature Bank Co-founder and Chairman of the Board. “Given our rapid rate of growth during the past two years, we are making significant headway as evidenced by the TCFD-designed disclosures to better inform our investors, clients and colleagues about the Bank’s dedication to climate-focused initiatives,” he concluded.

“The TCFD recommendations are structured around themes that we as an institution are already focused on improving,” said Lisa Bond, Chief Social Impact Officer and Senior Vice President. “Our commitment and strategy around ESG initiatives affords us a strong foundation to build on as we begin this journey towards climate-related financial disclosure. We believe implementing the TCFD guidelines will benefit all our shareholders, colleagues and other stakeholders, and our clients can now take comfort in knowing the company caring for their finances shares a similar commitment to the environment.”

To learn more about Signature Bank’s accomplishments and plans in this area in 2021, 2022 and the years ahead, review its fact sheet on the investor relations section of the Bank’s website here.

About Signature Bank

Signature Bank (Nasdaq: SBNY), member FDIC, is a New York-based, full-service national commercial bank with 38 private client offices throughout the metropolitan New York area, as well as in Connecticut, California, North Carolina, and Nevada. Through its single-point-of-contact approach, the Bank’s private client banking teams primarily serve the needs of privately owned businesses, their owners and senior managers.

The Bank has two wholly owned subsidiaries: Signature Financial, LLC, provides equipment finance and leasing; and Signature Securities Group Corporation, a licensed broker-dealer, investment adviser and member FINRA/SIPC, offers investment, brokerage, asset management and insurance products and services.

Since commencing operations in May 2001, Signature Bank reached $116 billion in assets and $104.12 billion in deposits as of June 30, 2022. Signature Bank placed 19^th on S&P Global’s list of the largest banks in the U.S., based on deposits as of year-end 2021.

Signature Bank was the first FDIC-insured bank to launch a blockchain-based digital payments platform. Signet™ enables commercial clients to make real-time payments in U.S. dollars, 24/7/365, and was also the first solution to be approved for use by the New York State Department of Financial Services.

For more information, please visit https://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. 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 expectations regarding future results, interest rates and the interest rate environment, loan and deposit growth, loan performance, operations, new private client teams’ hires, new office openings, business strategy and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on each of the foregoing and on our business overall. Forward-looking statements often include words such as "may," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," “potential,” “opportunity,” “could,” “project,” “seek,” “target,” “goal,” “should,” “will,” “would,” "plan," "estimate" or other similar expressions. Forward-looking and other statements may also address our sustainability progress, plans, and goals (including climate change and environmental-related matters and disclosures), which may be based on standards for measuring progress that are still developing, internal controls and processes that continue to evolve, and assumptions that are subject to change in the future. 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; (vi) our ability to maintain the continuity, integrity, security and safety of our operations and (vii) competition for qualified personnel and desirable office locations. All of these factors are subject to additional uncertainty in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and the conflict in Ukraine, which are having impacts on all aspects of our operations, the financial services industry and the economy as a whole. Additional risks are described in our quarterly and annual reports filed with the FDIC. 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. 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.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220907005309/en/

Investor Contact:

Brian Wyremski, Senior Vice President and Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Development

646-822-1479

bwyremski@signatureny.com



Media Contact:

Susan Turkell Lewis, 646-822-1825

slewis@signatureny.com

Source: Signature Bank

FAQ

What is Signature Bank's commitment to climate-related financial disclosures?

Signature Bank has officially joined the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) as of August 2022.

What greenhouse gas emissions will Signature Bank disclose?

Signature Bank plans to disclose Scope 1 and Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions produced from its own operations.

When did Signature Bank publish its 2021 Social Impact Report?

Signature Bank published its 2021 Social Impact Report, showcasing its ESG efforts.

What are Signature Bank's total assets as of June 30, 2022?

As of June 30, 2022, Signature Bank had total assets of $116 billion.

How is Signature Bank responding to shareholder calls for transparency?

The bank is aligning with industry-standard frameworks and increasing ESG disclosures in response to shareholder requests.