Metropolitan Commercial Bank Enters the EB-5 / E-2 Banking Sector

Hires Robert J. Sloposky, a 14-Year EB-5 / E-2 Veteran

Metropolitan Commercial Bank (the “Bank”) today announced that it has formed the Metropolitan Commercial Bank EB-5 / E-2 International Group to deliver banking services and products for United States Citizen and Immigration Services EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program investors, developers, Regional Centers, government agencies, law firms and consulting companies that specialize in EB-5 and E-2.

Leading the new EB-5 / E-2 International Group will be Robert J. Sloposky, the former Senior Vice President and Group Director of Signature Bank’s Private Client Group and EB-5 / E-2 Immigrant Investor Program. At Metropolitan Commercial Bank, he will be the Senior Vice President and Group Director of the Private Client Group and EB-5 / E-2 International Program. Mr. Sloposky was at Signature Bank for more than 14 years. Prior to that he was a Vice President in government relations as the Registered Lobbyist in New York City for HSBC. At Metropolitan Commercial Bank, he will be supported by the six-person team that has worked with him for many years.

“I am extremely pleased to have this very experienced EB-5 / E-2 team join Metropolitan Commercial Bank,” said Mark R. DeFazio, President and CEO of Metropolitan Commercial Bank. “The Bank has significant relationships with large developers and having an EB-5 solution for them will only deepen our relationships while adding another low-cost deposit vertical for Metropolitan Commercial Bank.”

April Feely, who has been hired as a First Vice President, Private Client Group and EB-5 / E-2 International Program at Metropolitan Commercial Bank, has worked with Mr. Sloposky for two decades – first at HSBC and then for more than 14 years at Signature Bank. Ms. Feely will be responsible for EB-5 / E-2 client servicing and operations at the Bank.

James M. Sozomenou, who has been hired as a First Vice President, Private Client Group and EB-5 / E-2 International Program at Metropolitan Commercial Bank has worked with Mr. Sloposky for more than six years at Signature Bank and will be responsible for EB-5 / E-2 client development and operations at the Bank.

“I am pleased to join Metropolitan Commercial Bank with my entire team that for years has been the gold standard in banking for the EB-5 / E-2 community,” said Mr. Sloposky. “Our EB-5 / E-2 platform includes construction and top-of-the-stack lending, which can create a one-stop shop for a developer’s project.”

About Metropolitan Commercial Bank

Metropolitan Commercial Bank (the “Bank”) is a New York City based full-service commercial bank. The Bank provides a broad range of business, commercial and personal banking products and services to small businesses, private and public middle-market and corporate enterprises and institutions, municipalities and local government entities, and affluent individuals.

Metropolitan Commercial Bank’s Global Payments group is an established leader in domestic and international fintech services, including: providing digital payments settlements; providing a gateway to payment networks; acting as a custodian of deposits; providing merchant acquiring services; acting as a global settlement agent, and as a leading national issuer of third-party debit cards. The Bank continues to grow its presence as a valued, trusted and innovative strategic partner across fintech, payments and money services businesses worldwide.

Metropolitan Commercial Bank finished in the top ten of S&P Global Market Intelligence’s annual ranking of the best-performing community banks with assets between $3 billion and $10 billion for 2022 and among the top ten top-performing community banks in the Northeast region for 2022. The Bank is also a member of the Piper Sandler Sm-All Stars Class of 2022.

Metropolitan Commercial Bank operates banking centers and private client offices in Manhattan and Boro Park, Brooklyn in New York City and Great Neck on Long Island in New York State.

Metropolitan Commercial Bank is a New York State chartered commercial bank, a member of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and an equal housing lender. The parent company of Metropolitan Commercial Bank is Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE: MCB).

For more information, please visit the Bank’s website at MCBankNY.com.

Forward Looking Statement Disclaimer

This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Examples of forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the Company’s future financial condition and capital ratios, results of operations and the Company’s outlook and business. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts. Such statements may be identified by the use of such words as “may,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “continue” or similar terminology. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Factors which may cause our forward-looking statements to be materially inaccurate include, but are not limited to the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and results of operation, an unexpected deterioration in our loan or securities portfolios, unexpected increases in our expenses, different than anticipated growth and our ability to manage our growth, unanticipated regulatory action or changes in regulations, unexpected changes in interest rates, inflation, an unanticipated decrease in deposits, an unanticipated loss of key personnel or existing customers, competition from other institutions resulting in unanticipated changes in our loan or deposit rates, an unexpected adverse financial, regulatory or bankruptcy event experienced by our fintech partners, unanticipated increases in FDIC costs, changes in regulations, legislation or tax or accounting rules, the current or anticipated impact of military conflict, terrorism or other geopolitical events and unanticipated adverse changes in our customers’ economic conditions or general economic conditions, as well as those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release. We do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20230411005949/en/