Sterling National Bank Adds Senior Expertise to Asset Based Lending Team

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - June 16, 2015) - Sterling National Bank, the principal subsidiary of Sterling Bancorp (NYSE: STL), announced today that Mignon Winston and Mark Long have joined the Bank's Asset Based Lending division, each as First Vice President and Portfolio Manager. Ms. Winston and Mr. Long will be based in New York City and provide financing solutions to clients in the Metropolitan New York and Mid-Atlantic regions.

"We are very excited to add Mignon and Mark to our growing team," said Thomas Geisel, Sterling's President of Specialty Finance. "They both have decades of real world experience in helping middle market companies identify and implement creative solutions to their financing challenges. Their addition underscores the rapid growth of our asset-based lending business and our commitment to providing our clients with deep industry expertise."

Ms. Winston has more than 25 years of credit and portfolio management experience. Prior to joining Sterling, she served as Senior Vice President/ABL Credit Officer at First Capital. She has held senior positions at Wells Fargo Bank, The CIT Group, Inc., Chase Manhattan Bank, and Heller Financial, Inc. Ms. Winston holds a BA in economics from Harvard University and an MBA in Finance from New York University.

Mr. Long has over three decades of experience in Credit and Portfolio Management. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President and Loan Portfolio Manager at Wells Fargo Bank. Previously, he was Regional Credit Manager and Senior Credit Officer at CIT and held underwriting and portfolio positions with Bank of America, Nations Bank, and Security Pacific Bank. Mr. Long holds a BS in Accounting from St. Francis College.

Sterling National Bank's Asset Based Lending Division provides working capital and term financing ranging from $5 million to $30 million primarily to middle-market businesses with annual sales ranging from $10 million to $250 million.

About Sterling National Bank

Sterling National Bank, the principal subsidiary of Sterling Bancorp, specializes in the delivery of service and solutions to business owners, their families, and consumers in communities within the greater New York City area through teams of dedicated and experienced relationship managers. Sterling National Bank offers a complete line of commercial, business, and consumer banking products and services. For more information, visit www.snb.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release may contain "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements may concern Sterling's current expectations about its future results, plans, operations and prospects and are subject to numerous assumptions, risks and uncertainties, including inflation; the effects of, and changes in, trade; changes in asset quality and credit risk; introduction, withdrawal, success and timing of business initiatives; capital management activities; customer disintermediation; and the success of Sterling at managing these risks. Other factors that could cause Sterling's actual results to differ from those indicated in forward-looking statements are included in the "Risk Factors" section of Sterling's securities filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements included herein are only made as of the date hereof, and Sterling specifically disclaims any obligation to update these statements in the future.