Sterling National Bank Adds New Commercial Banking Team

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - December 07, 2015) - Sterling National Bank, the principal subsidiary of Sterling Bancorp (NYSE: STL), today announced the establishment of a new commercial banking team to serve clients in the NY Metro region. The team is comprised of Rainier ("Ray") Guanlao as Senior Managing Director and Team Leader, Anna FusGorniak as Managing Director, John Kowalski as Managing Director, Christine Ketcham as Associate Managing Director, and Trevor Hintzen as Portfolio Manager. This group brings deep expertise serving a range of industries, particularly the commercial real estate and property management sectors.

"We are excited about the addition of our newest commercial banking team," said David S. Bagatelle, President of NY Metro Markets at Sterling National Bank. "These experienced professionals have proven track records of providing first-rate service to clients and growing loan and deposit portfolios. We look forward to their contributions to our capabilities and growth opportunities."

Ray Guanlao was most recently a Vice President with Capital One, with relationship management responsibility serving commercial real estate and property management clients. Prior to that, he served as Vice President/Underwriter at Capital One for Middle Market clients in a variety of sectors. Earlier in his career, he worked with Sovereign Bank in its Large Corporate/Gaming Group and Fleet Bank/Bank of America in its Middle Market Group.

Anna FusGorniak most recently served as Vice President with Capital One, where she managed client relationships and was responsible for a deposit portfolio, primarily serving NY Metro commercial real estate clients. She also previously served as a Private Banker and Branch Manager while at Capital One.

John Kowalski was previously a Vice President with Capital One, where he was responsible for a deposit portfolio in excess of $1 billion, primarily serving commercial real estate, multifamily and developer clients. Earlier in his career at Capital One, he was a Vice President in the Private Banking and Commercial Banking Groups.

Christine Ketcham was previously an Account Executive with Capital One, responsible for managing relationships with property owners and managers. Earlier, she was a Portfolio Manager in Capital One's Private Banking Group, where she was involved in underwriting for a portfolio of commercial and consumer loans.

Trevor Hintzen was formerly a Client Support Specialist with Capital One, and has worked with teams serving high net worth individuals and their businesses. He previously held a Branch Manager position with People's United Bank and was a licensed personal banker at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank.

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.