Metropolitan Commercial Bank Elevates Two Seasoned EB-5 Specialists to Co-Head the EB-5 Private Client Group

By: Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. via Business Wire

October 26, 2023 at 07:05 AM EDT

April Feely promoted to Senior Vice President and Group Director EB-5 Operations, and James M. Sozomenou promoted to Senior Vice President and Group Director EB-5 New Business Development

Metropolitan Commercial Bank (the “Bank”) has announced the promotions of April Feely and James M. Sozomenou as Co-Heads of Metropolitan Commercial Bank’s EB-5 Private Client Group. In this dual leadership role, they will continue to provide comprehensive banking services and products tailored for stakeholders in the United States Citizen and Immigration Services EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program. Ms. Feely and Mr. Sozomenou will lead the team with the support of their long-standing colleagues in serving the needs of investors, developers, Regional Centers, government agencies, law firms, and consulting companies specializing in EB-5 and E-2.

“April has demonstrated masterful expertise in EB-5 operations, while James has consistently delivered exceptional results across the entire spectrum of EB-5 stakeholders,” stated Mark R. DeFazio, President and CEO of Metropolitan Commercial Bank. “Both of these individuals have unquestionably earned their promotions.”

In April 2023, April Feely embarked on a new chapter in her career by joining Metropolitan Commercial Bank. Prior to this, she dedicated 14 years of her professional journey to Signature Bank, where she managed client services and operations for EB-5 and E-2 clients. Before her tenure at Signature Bank, Ms. Feely contributed her experience to HSBC for over six years. Her academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo, located in Amherst, New York.

“I am extremely pleased to continue serving the EB-5 community with our team and the expertise that we have brought to the table for many years. James and I look forward to continuing what we’ve built and expanding our relationships,” said April Feely, Senior Vice President and Group Director of EB-5 Private Client Group Operations at Metropolitan Commercial Bank. “The Bank has been more than supportive in ensuring that our team’s reputation remains stellar. We are excited for the future here at MCB.”

In April 2023, James M. Sozomenou also became a part of the Metropolitan Commercial Bank EB-5 team. Prior to this, he dedicated six years of his career to Signature Bank, where his responsibilities encompassed client development and operations for EB-5 and E-2 clients. Before his tenure at Signature Bank, Mr. Sozomenou held senior sales positions in financial services and technology firms. He pursued his educational path by studying communications at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey, and obtaining a Certification in Broadcasting and Communications from the Connecticut School of Broadcasting in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey.

“I am truly grateful for the opportunity to lead this incredible EB-5 team alongside April. We have been active in the EB-5 market for some time now and I am excited to see what is yet to come,” said James M. Sozomenou, Senior Vice President and Group Director of EB-5 Private Client Group New Business Development at Metropolitan Commercial Bank. “The Bank has been extremely welcoming of our team and this unique business vertical. They are as excited about the future of EB-5 as we are!”

About Metropolitan Commercial Bank

Metropolitan Commercial Bank (the “Bank”) is a New York City based full-service commercial bank. The Bank provides a broad range of business, commercial and personal banking products and services to small businesses, private and public middle-market and corporate enterprises and institutions, municipalities and local government entities, and affluent individuals.

Metropolitan Commercial Bank’s Global Payments group is an established leader in domestic and international fintech services, including: providing digital payments settlements; providing a gateway to payment networks; acting as a custodian of deposits; providing merchant acquiring services; acting as a global settlement agent, and as a leading national issuer of third-party debit cards. The Bank continues to grow its presence as a valued, trusted and innovative strategic partner across fintech, payments and money services businesses worldwide.

Metropolitan Commercial Bank was ranked by Independent Community Bankers of America among the top ten successful loan producers for 2023 by loan category and asset size for commercial banks with more than $1 billion in assets. The Bank finished ninth in S&P Global Market Intelligence’s annual ranking of the best-performing community banks with assets between $3 billion and $10 billion for 2022 and eighth among top-performing community banks in the Northeast region for 2022. The Bank is also a member of the Piper Sandler Sm-All Stars Class of 2022 and Kroll affirmed a BBB+ (investment grade) deposit rating on January 25, 2023.

Metropolitan Commercial Bank operates banking centers and private client offices in Manhattan and Boro Park, Brooklyn in New York City and Great Neck on Long Island in New York State.

The Bank is a New York State chartered commercial bank, a member of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and an equal housing lender. The parent company of Metropolitan Commercial Bank is Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE: MCB).

For more information, please visit the Bank’s website at MCBankNY.com.

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This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Examples of forward-looking statements include but are not limited to the Company’s future financial condition and capital ratios, results of operations and the Company’s outlook and business. Forward-looking statements are not historical facts. Such statements may be identified by the use of such words as “may,” “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “continue” or similar terminology. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we caution you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Factors which may cause our forward-looking statements to be materially inaccurate include, but are not limited to the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business and results of operation, an unexpected deterioration in our loan or securities portfolios, unexpected increases in our expenses, different than anticipated growth and our ability to manage our growth, unanticipated regulatory action or changes in regulations, unexpected changes in interest rates, inflation, an unanticipated decrease in deposits, an unanticipated loss of key personnel or existing customers, competition from other institutions resulting in unanticipated changes in our loan or deposit rates, an unexpected adverse financial, regulatory or bankruptcy event experienced by our fintech partners, unanticipated increases in FDIC costs, changes in regulations, legislation or tax or accounting rules, the current or anticipated impact of military conflict, terrorism or other geopolitical events and unanticipated adverse changes in our customers’ economic conditions or general economic conditions, as well as those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

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