Signature Bank is "nowhere near" the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s list of problem banks, an executive said during the company's first-quarter earnings call April 19.

In the fourth quarter, the FDIC likely designated one institution that had around $120 billion in total assets as a "problem bank." While the FDIC did not reveal the identity of the bank, some stakeholders speculated it could be Signature Bank given that its total assets stood at $118.45 billion at Dec. 31, 2021.

"By law, we're not allowed to talk about CAMELS ratings and such, as you know. But we are not aware of any bank with capital ratios, credit metrics, growth, earnings like ours ever being anywhere near a troubled bank list. We're nowhere near it," said COO Eric Howell in response to an analyst's question.

"We were a little insulted by the marketplace, and quite frankly, embarrassed because of what [Eric Howell] has said that people would think we could be on the list. But we can't comment whether we are or not because we can't talk about our CAMELS rating. But I'm the CEO and I would know, and I know nothing," said Joseph DePaolo.

Its ongoing expansion into California and Nevada also suggested that it is not constrained by such an issue as being on a troubled bank list, Howell said.

Signature Bank grew net income by 78% year over year to $338.5 million in the first quarter, driven by it deploying cash into securities and loans, DePaolo said. Its return on equity reached 15.2% backing out multiple one-time tax items in the quarter.

In digital banking, Signature onboarded 160 new clients during the first quarter, and currently serves as the primary bank for eight of the top 12 major exchanges, DePaolo said. Deposits generated from digital asset exchanges were $12.8 billion as of March 31, and stablecoin issuers brought in $7.2 billion in deposits.