MODERN BANK - Key Persons


Anthony E. Burke

Job Titles:
  • Vice Chairman
  • Vice Chairman of the Executive Team Board
  • Director of Long Island Lutheran High School
Mr. Burke serves as vice chairman of Modern Bank; he previously served as both chief executive officer and president. Prior to joining Modern Bank, he was the president and chief operating officer of New York Community Bank and the senior executive vice president and chief operating officer of its holding company, New York Community Bancorp, Inc., a $24 billion financial services firm. He was also a member of its board of directors. Earlier in his career, Mr. Burke was affiliated for 25 years with the financial services industry group of Ernst & Young LLP, serving the last 13 years as a partner. Mr. Burke is a Director of Long Island Lutheran High School, a former Director of the Richmond County Savings Foundation and of Peter B. Cannell & Co., Inc., an investment advisory firm, and a Trustee Emeritus of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. He has an MBA from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business and an undergraduate degree from St. John's University. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Bippy M. Siegal - Chairman, Founder

Job Titles:
  • Chairman
  • Founder
  • Member of the Executive Team Board
Bippy Siegal is the founder of Modern Bank, as well as the founder and chief executive officer of Raycliff Capital, a private equity firm that invests across a diverse set of sectors, including financial services, information technology, hospitality and real estate. He is also a principal of Crystal Energy Group, an oil and gas exploration company. Mr. Siegal participates in a variety of philanthropic initiatives focused primarily on providing guidance, counseling and education for children. He is a member of The Council on Foreign Relations and serves as a trustee of Boston University.

David L. Roscoe

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Member of the Executive Team Board
  • Director of the BATS Exchange
  • Retired Managing Director of J.P. Morgan
David Roscoe is a retired managing director of J.P. Morgan, where he spent 33 years serving in leadership roles. Mr. Roscoe held global management responsibilities at J.P. Morgan for divisions including technology, securities processing, custody and clearance, ADRs, funds transfer, and corporate trust. Mr. Roscoe was active in the formation and leadership of several financial industry utilities, including Depository Trust, National Securities Clearing Corporation, International Securities Clearing Corporation in the US, and Euroclear Clearance Systems in Brussels. Mr. Roscoe also served in London for J.P. Morgan as the founding executive director of CLS Service, a global foreign exchange clearing bank. Mr. Roscoe also worked for Bridge Information Systems, serving as EVP for strategic planning, President, and CEO. He subsequently held senior positions at RiskMetrics Group, where he co-led every division of the company and served as senior advisor to the CEO, with a concentration on leadership development. Mr. Roscoe is currently a director of the BATS Exchange, and serves as board chair of The Hastings Center, a leading independent bioethics research organization. Mr. Roscoe received a BA in Economics (with Honors) from Yale University, and an MBA in Finance (with Honors) from the University of Oregon. He also served as an active officer in the US Naval Reserve.

Geoffrey Cavey - COO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Operating Officer
  • Member of the Executive Team Board
Geoffrey Cavey has over 25 years of experience working within the financial services industry. Mr. Cavey is responsible for building and managing Modern Bank's operating platform and technology groups, while coordinating bank-wide projects. He is responsible for the management and oversight of the operations, technology, client service, and infrastructure teams. Before joining Modern Bank, Mr. Cavey was a Managing Director at Milestone where he was responsible for strategic change within the banking and insurance sector. Prior to that, Mr. Cavey spent 4 years as the Head of Finance Change for Morgan Stanley, N.A, where he was responsible for the Finance Change Management Program, which included defining and implementing the finance strategic change agenda. Previous to that Mr. Cavey spent 15 years at UBS Investment Bank in various leadership roles within the Bank's Finance function. Mr. Cavey graduated from Massey University, New Zealand with a Bachelor of Business with a major in Accounting.

Imanta Bergmanis

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Member of the Executive Team Board
  • Legal Counsel to Modern Bank, N.a
Imanta Bergmanis currently serves as legal counsel to Modern Bank, N.A. and its holding companies, and to Raycliff Capital, a private equity firm that invests across a diverse set of sectors. Previously, Ms. Bergmanis was a corporate attorney at the law firm of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, LLP (now Dentons) in New York and Washington D.C. Ms. Bergmanis, a member of the New York Bar, received a J.D. degree from William Mitchell College of Law (now Mitchell Hamline College of Law) and B.A. degree from University of Minnesota.

Joseph V. Petrelli

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Executive Team Board
  • Head of Commercial Real Estate
Joseph Petrelli joined Modern Bank in December of 2011 to originate and underwrite commercial real estate loans. Prior to joining Modern Bank, Joe was a member of Anglo Irish Bank's Commercial Real Estate Lending Group, where he was responsible for the asset management of over $1 billion performing and non-performing commercial real estate loan facilities. While at Anglo Irish Bank, Joe also served on the Bank's syndication desk, responsible for managing $1.4 billion of senior and subordinate syndicated CRE loans and worked on the successful sale of the bank's $10 billion U.S. loan portfolio. Before joining Anglo Irish Bank, he was a member of AIG/ SunAmerica's Commercial Mortgage Lending Group responsible for originating and underwriting commercial real estate loans in the Northeastern United States for balance sheet and CMBS execution. Joe earned a B.A. in Economics from Trinity College and a certificate in Real Estate Finance and Investment from New York University.

Kevin P. Anderson

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Executive Team Board
  • Head of Operations, IT, and Client Services
Kevin Anderson has over 25 years of financial industry and banking experience and is responsible for overseeing the Bank's operational platform including the functions of the Operations Department, IT Department and Client Service team. He is responsible for the oversight of the core processing platform as well as the management of third party relationships. In addition, he is responsible for the bank-wide Information Security Program. Before joining Modern Bank, Mr. Anderson spent two years as the Vice President of Administration for Modern Asset Management (MAM), where he was responsible for the day to day operations and administration of the MAM platform. Prior to that, Mr. Anderson was a Vice President and Head of the Manager Programs Administration platform for the HSBC Private Bank. Mr. Anderson started his career in the financial services industry in 1994 at the Chase Manhattan Private Bank. Mr. Anderson graduated from Fairfield University with a B.A. in Economics with a minor in Communications.

Mitchell H. Caplan - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman of the Board
  • Director
  • Member of the Executive Team Board
  • Managing Partner of Raycliff Capital
Mitchell H. Caplan serves as Chairman of the Board of Modern Bank. Mr. Caplan is also a Managing Partner of Raycliff Capital, a private equity firm that invests across a diverse set of sectors, including financial services, information technology, hospitality and real estate. Mr. Caplan most recently served as Chief Executive Officer of Jefferson National Financial, where he oversaw all aspects of the company's growth strategy and which was sold in early 2017 to Nationwide. Under Mr. Caplan's leadership, the company grew into one of the largest distributors of tax-advantaged investing solutions for registered investment advisors (RIAs), fee-based advisors and the clients they serve. Previously, Mr. Caplan served as an Executive Advisor to Aquiline Capital Partners LLC, a private equity firm specializing in the financial services industry. Prior to Aquiline, he was Chief Executive Officer and Director of E*TRADE Financial Corporation. He oversaw the company's integration of bank and brokerage functionality and under his leadership from 2003 to 2007, E*TRADE reported five consecutive years of record revenues and earnings. Prior to E*TRADE, Mr. Caplan served as Vice-Chairman of the Board, and President and Chief Executive Officer of TeleBanc Financial Corporation and TeleBank, then the industry's leading and largest branchless bank. Prior to launching TeleBank, Mr. Caplan was an associate of the law firm of Shearman & Sterling LLP. Mr. Caplan is an active supporter and former member of the Board of Chancellors of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He holds a JD and MBA from Emory University, and a BA in history from Brandeis University.

Stefan V. Reyniak

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Member of the Executive Team Board
  • Strategic Operating Advisor to Raycliff Capital
As a business builder with a legal background, Stefan V. Reyniak's experience spans start-up, rapid growth, and turnaround situations, and he has built technology and specialty finance platforms in mature, regulated industries as well as in emerging market segments. Mr. Reyniak's professional areas of focus are creating and executing launch strategies; developing and supporting management teams; leading fundraising and managing investor relations; and augmenting organic growth with corporate development and M&A initiatives. Mr. Reyniak is the former chief strategy officer of Modern Bank. Currently, he serves on the credit committee and the nominating & corporate governance committee of the board, and previously served as chairman of the audit committee of the board. Mr. Reyniak is also a vice president and director of Modern Bank's holding company, Modern Financial, Inc. Mr. Reyniak is a strategic operating advisor to Raycliff Capital, a private equity firm that invests across a diverse set of sectors, including financial services, information technology, hospitality and real estate. He currently serves as a director of Intellihealth, Inc., a health-tech company, and as a director and treasurer of The New York's Finest Foundation, Inc., a not-for-profit organization. Mr. Reyniak began his career as a corporate attorney at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and White & Case LLP in New York. Mr. Reyniak earned an MBA degree from Harvard Business School, a JD degree cum laude from Harvard Law School, and a BA degree magna cum laude from Columbia University.

Stephanie Jozefczyk - CFO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Financial Officer
  • Member of the Executive Team Board
Stephanie Jozefczyk is responsible for overseeing the financial operations of the business at Modern Bank. Before joining Modern Bank, Ms. Jozefczyk spent six years at Bank Leumi USA. As the Co-Controller of Bank Leumi USA, Stephanie had oversight of the product controllership, reporting of financial results, and management of the bank's tax strategy. While at Bank Leumi USA, Ms. Jozefczyk worked on multiple bank-wide initiatives improving processes, implementing an internal control framework to be compliant with SOX, and enhancing technological solutions. Prior to joining Bank Leumi USA, Stephanie was in the audit practice of the Banking and Capital Markets group at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Stephanie's audit career was focused in banking, working primarily with large publicly traded banking clients. Stephanie earned a B.S. in Accounting from Ithaca College and a Masters in Accounting from Ithaca College. Ms. Jozefczyk has successfully completed all four parts of the CPA exam, holding licensure in New York State.

Steven T. Sabatini - CFO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Financial Officer
  • Director
  • Member of the Executive Team Board
  • Vice Chairman and Trustee for Dominican College of Blauvelt
Mr. Sabatini currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer of Modern Bank's holding companies, Modern Financial Inc. and Modern Bank Partners LLC., and serves as a financial consultant to the Bank. Mr. Sabatini previously served as Senior Executive Vice President from January 2006 to March 2010 and Chief Financial Officer from January 2006 to March 2009 of the Bank. Prior to joining Modern Bank, Mr. Sabatini served as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of U.S.B. Holding Co., Inc. and its banking subsidiary Union State Bank from 1995 to 2006. He also was a member of the board of directors of U.S.B. Holding Co., Inc., a New York Stock Exchange company. Prior to his career in banking, Mr. Sabatini worked in public accounting for 21 years, the last 17 years with Ernst & Young, where he served as an audit partner in the financial services group from 1987 to 1994. Mr. Sabatini serves as Vice Chairman and Trustee for Dominican College of Blauvelt. He previously served as a Director of the Epilepsy Foundation of Metropolitan New York, and as a Director of the National Epilepsy Foundation of America where he served as Chairman from 2007 to 2009. Mr. Sabatini also served as a Director of the Hudson Valley Affordable Housing Finance Corporation, and was a member of the Westchester County Business Journal Editorial Advisory Board. Mr. Sabatini received his B.S. and Masters degrees in accounting from St. John's University. Mr. Sabatini is a CPA in the state of New York, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants where he previously served on various committees as both a member and chairman. He has also been active with the American Bankers Association, the Independent Community Bankers of America, and the New York Bankers Association with prior service on the Accounting, Regulation Review, and Bank Taxation Committees, respectively.

Valerie Swaya - Chief Compliance Officer

Job Titles:
  • Chief Compliance Officer
  • Member of the Executive Team Board
  • Certified Anti - Money Laundering Specialist
Valerie Swaya has over 25 years of regulatory compliance and banking services experience. Ms. Swaya is responsible for overseeing the bank's Compliance Risk Management function, including the bank's Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program and Compliance Management program. She is responsible for the management and oversight of the Compliance Department, including the bank's AML software and the Compliance Testing Program. Prior to joining Modern Bank in 2011, Ms. Swaya was the Senior Vice President, Compliance Officer at The Provident Bank, NJ, where she was responsible for the management of the bank's Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and AML program. Prior to that, Ms. Swaya spent 6 years as the Chief Compliance Officer for Millennium bcp bank, N.A, where she was responsible for the Compliance Risk Management Program, which included oversight of the bank's AML function and Consumer Compliance Program. Ms. Swaya is an accredited Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) and a member of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS). Ms. Swaya started her career at the Office of Thrift Supervision as a Federal Bank Examiner. Ms. Swaya graduated from University of Massachusetts, Amherst with a B.A. in History with a minor in Economics.

Vera C. McVey

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Executive Team Board
  • Chief Credit & Chief Risk Officer
Vera McVey oversees Enterprise Risk Management of Modern Bank with particular focus on credit risk. Prior to joining Modern Bank in 2010, Ms. McVey was engaged by The Promontory Financial Group as an independent consultant providing expertise in credit risk management, risk governance, and loan review. She was previously chief credit officer of Americas & Asia of HypoVereinsbank (HVB) in New York and a member of the regional management committee. In that capacity, Ms. McVey served as a voting member of HVB's group credit committee. Ms. McVey spent the prior 10 years with Deutsche Bank in New York as a senior risk manager covering a wide range of industries and products as well as a relationship manager for Fortune 1000 companies and highly leveraged healthcare transactions. Ms. McVey earned a BA degree from Fordham University. She was trained and certified as a universal banker in Germany at the inception of her banking career.

Yair Talmor - CEO, President

Job Titles:
  • Chief Executive Officer
  • Member of the Executive Team Board
  • President
  • in 2023 As President and Chief Executive Officer
Yair Talmor joined Modern Bank in 2023 as President and Chief Executive Officer, bringing years of senior leadership experience and commercial banking expertise to our institution. He is responsible for setting and managing the strategic direction, safety and soundness of the Bank. Prior to joining Modern Bank, Yair began his commercial banking career at Bank Leumi USA, where he ultimately rose to the position of Deputy CEO in charge of the corporate commercial bank. In 2011, he was recruited to join Bank Hapoalim BM (BHI) and served as Chairman and CEO of the bank's holding company. He was responsible for planning, recruiting, establishing, and managing a corporate commercial banking business, which included opening regional offices across the US and in Canada. Since retiring from this role in 2021, Yair has been serving as Chairman of Bank Hapoalim BM's (BHI) national credit committee for the US. Yair has an MBA in finance from Hofstra University and a B.S. in accounting from St. Joseph's University.