Signature Bank CEO Joe DePaolo Will be Replaced by COO Eric Howell Following Transition Period
TL;DR Joe DePaolo, the CEO of Crypto-friendly Signature Bank (SBNY), is stepping down from his role as president and will be succeeded by COO Eric Howell. DePaolo will retain the CEO role and his seat on the board during a transitionary period until Howell is named as CEO. The bank has been attempting to reduce its involvement in digital assets following the market downturn last year.
Crypto-friendly Signature Bank (SBNY)'s CEO Joe DePaolo is stepping down from his role as president to be succeeded by chief operating officer (COO) Eric Howell.
Following a transitionary period starting on March 1, Howell will replace DePaolo as president.
The bank also said that once DePaolo completes his transition into the advisory role, Howell will be named as CEO. Till then DePaolo will retain the CEO role and his seat on the board.
It is unclear how long the transitionary period will last. Signature Bank did not immediately respond to CoinDesk's request for further comment.
The bank has been attempting to reduce its involvement in digital assets following the market downturn which started last year and came to a head with the collapse of crypto exchange FTX last November.
Signature said it would be shrinking its deposits tied to cryptocurrencies by $8 billion to $10 billion in December. Last month, Binance said that Signature would no longer handle transactions of less than $100,000 for crypto exchange customers.
UPDATE (Feb. 16, 2023, 12:35 UTC): Updates headline, adds further details and background.
UPDATE (Feb. 16, 2023, 12:15 UTC): Adds additional details.