OCEAN BANK ANNOUNCES PROMOTIONS

MIAMI, FL –May 24, 2006 – Ocean Bank, the largest independent commercial bank headquartered in Florida, announces staff promotions for Carlos M. Hondal, Alina Z. Garcia, and Charles Sincore.

Carlos Hondal was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Risk Officer of Ocean Bank. He is responsible for the bank’s Risk Management Department and will work with senior management and the board of directors in implementing the bank’s Enterprise Risk Management program. He has been a senior officer with the bank for more than 16 years and was previously director of internal audit. Prior to joining Ocean Bank in1989, Hondal was an Audit Manager for Coopers & Lybrand LLC, with a specialty in the banking and construction industries. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Florida. Hondal is a Certified Public Accountant (C.P.A.) and a Certified Fraud Examiner (C.F.E.). he is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (A.I.C.P.A.), Florida Institute of C.P.A.’s (F.I.C.P.A.), and Institute of Internal Auditors (I.I.A.) Charter member of the IIA Dade Chapter “Financial Audit Director’s Roundtable”. He is a board member and officer of the Association of Hispanic Alumni of the University of Florida, Board Member of Catholic Emmaus Radio, a not-for-profit charitable organization helping foster children and other local charities.

Named Director of Internal Audit of Ocean Bank, Alina Z. Garcia is a vice president and is responsible for determining the adequacy of the bank’s internal controls; verifying the existence of assets, liabilities, income and expenses; analyzing the reliability of the data processing, accounting and reporting systems for the bank and performs special investigations as needed. Garcia reports to Ocean Bank’s Audit Committee, a sub-committee of the Board of Directors, and works closely with the bank president and senior management. Garcia joined the Audit Department of Ocean Bank in 1990 and most recently held the position of audit manager. She was previously a Senior Associate with Coopers & Lybrand, LLP. She is both a C.P.A. and C.F.E. and is a member of the F.I.C.P.A., I.I.A. and A.I.C.P.A. Garcia graduated from the University of Miami with a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and a concentration in accounting.

Charles V. Sincore, Jr. is a vice president and was named Deputy Director of Internal Audit for Ocean Bank. Under this new role he reports to the director of internal audit and will provide assistance in the day-to-day operations of the department. Sincore has been a part of Ocean Bank’s Internal Audit Department since 1997 where his most recent role was audit supervisor. He has more than 18 years of banking/internal audit experience. Sincore graduated from Florida State University where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance.

Ocean Bank is the largest independent commercial bank headquartered in the state of Florida, with more than $5.8 billion in assets and $5.1 billion in deposits. Chartered in 1982, Ocean Bank operates a network of 21 branches throughout Miami-Dade and Broward counties. Since its inception, Ocean Bank has impacted education in our community by making substantial contributions to Florida International University, Miami Dade College, the United Negro College Fund, the Education Fund and many other education-related initiatives. Acknowledging its support, Ocean Bank has received numerous awards and accolades from the Beacon Council, the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Department of Education. For more information about Ocean Bank, visit www.oceanbank.com.