- Sabadell is expanding its US domestic banking business in the fast-growing south Florida market

- It has strengthened operations in Miami and is firmly established as a local bank in the region

Banco Sabadell has concluded the acquisition of Miami-based Mellon United National Bank (MUNB) after obtaining authorization from the Bank of Spain in November and the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in December 2009.

Fernando Pérez-Hickman, Managing Director of Banco Sabadell in America, said « One of the most important reasons that Banco Sabadell has to acquire MUNB is the quality of its professionals, their loyalty to the bank, and its excellent relationship with clients. It will preserve and ensure the exceptional service that customers are accustomed. »

Banco Sabadell has acquired a total of 1.675 million dollars in deposits and 875 million dollars in loans (60% of the loan book, those selected after the due diligence process). The group now manages a total of 6.4 billion dollars of business (investment and funds) in Florida and has added 15 branches, bringing its network in Florida to 22 branches.

According to Fernando Pérez-Hickman, «the US economy will leave behind the crisis before Europe, which offers great opportunities for growth to financial institutions with lending power, such as ours.»

New trading name

The name of MUNB following the acquisition will be Sabadell United Bank.

The new name combines the strength and innovation associated with Banco Sabadell, the parent international company, while maintaining the tradition and experience associated with the previous Mellon United National Bank, in line with our aim of creating one of the soundest banks in Florida.

As a result, Banco Sabadell will raise ten places in the ranking of local banks, to sixth place in terms of deposits. Positioned as one of the leading international banks with a presence in southern Florida, Banco Sabadell is one of the few banks with the capacity to serve the local market (businesses and professionals), manage and structure project finance deals for large companies, and cater for international private banking customers.

In the words of Pérez-Hickman, « having completed the operation, we are now undertaking an ambitious plan to bolster our position in Miami. Over the next three years we want to increase our volumes significantly and we will naturally be paying special attention to opportunities arising from this growth. »

In connection with the transaction, Sabadell was represented by the law firm of Hunton & Williams, LLP and BroadSpan Capital LLC, in its capacity as financial advisor.

Banco Sabadell and the southern Florida market

Banco Sabadell (IBEX:SAB) is Spain´s fourth-largest bank and has more than 125 years of experience in corporate and personal banking. It has over 1,200 branches throughout Spain and

a presence in another 19 countries through branches, representative offices, subsidiaries and affiliates, notably in China, India, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

Banco Sabadell´s capital ratios are among the highest in the European banking sector. It has assets totaling more than 118 billion dollars and close to 10,000 employees worldwide, and it was the first Spanish bank with ISO 9001 certification for all its global processes and the Gold Seal from the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM).

Since 1993, Banco Sabadell has had a full international branch license for its Miami office (the first Spanish bank in Florida), from where it coordinates all of its US operations and provides private and corporate banking services for individuals and businesses in the US and Latin America.

The acquisition of Mellon United National Bank, Banco Sabadell´s third acquisition in the area, strengthens the strategy that commenced with the acquisition of TransAtlantic Bank in 2007 and continued with that of BBVA´s private banking business in Miami in April 2008. The acquisition is a major step towards strengthening Banco Sabadell´s operating platform in Florida as part of its international development strategy, at a time when there are attractive opportunities in the US market.

Miami, January 15th 2010