ENS Invests in Heritage Bank Startup

ENS recently made an investment in Heritage Bank in New York City. Below is the press release on the formation of the bank.

June 25, 2008 06:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

Heritage Bank (in organization) Announces Receipt of
Conditional Approval for National Charter
Bank Targets Late Summer Opening in Manhattan, Long Island and Brooklyn

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The organizers of Heritage Bank, N.A. (in organization) announced today that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) has granted conditional approval of its application for a national commercial bank charter. Heritage Bank is presently targeting a late summer opening and intends to raise between $60 to $85 million in capital to fund the bank’s formation and opening.

“Conditional approval from the OCC is a great milestone for us. We look forward to meeting the conditions of the approval by commencing our capital raise with a soon-tobe-released effective offering circular and continuing to prepare for the pre-opening exam in order to open for business in late summer,” explains David S. Bagatelle, President and CEO of Heritage Bank.

“We are tracking very well toward our goals,” comments Daniel M. Healy, Chairman of Heritage Bank. “The conditional approval and the affirmations we have received through the expressed interest of investors and prospective banking teams, demonstrate that we have the right management team and right model in place to establish a premier bank in the New York metropolitan area.”

Subject to the receipt of final regulatory approvals, the Bank will begin operations during late summer, 2008. The Bank’s initial offices will be located in midtown Manhattan, Long Island and Brooklyn, New York. Each office will contain multiple private commercial banking teams.

The organization of the bank is led by an experienced team of New York City banking executives, each of whom has a strong track record of serving the Bank’s target market: privately owned businesses and the middle market in the New York metropolitan area. David S. Bagatelle will serve as President and Chief Executive Officer. Bagatelle is a former Executive Vice President of Signature Bank and a member of its founding group. Daniel M. Healy will serve as Chairman of the Board. He is a former North Fork Bancorporation Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and director. The Vice Chairman of the Board is Raymond A. Nielsen, who was the former leadindependent director at North Fork. He was also the former President, Chief Executive Officer and director of Reliance Bancorp.

Additional executives include: Michael S. Carleton, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer; Gerard A. Perri, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer; and Joseph R. Harpster, Executive Vice President and Chief Credit Officer.

Please visit www.heritagebankny.com for additional information. This press release is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy stock of Heritage Bank, N.A. (in organization), which will be made only by means of the Bank’s prospectus filed with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. To the extent that this press release contains forward looking statements, those statements will be subject to the limitations contained in the prospectus.

Contact:
Heritage Bank
Adam Moskowitz
623 Fifth Avenue, 11th floor
New York, NY 10022
212.421.0030
amoskowitz@heritagebankny.com