GDW Golden West

CHARLOTTE, N.C., Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Wachovia Corp. announced today the leaders who will manage the company's retail and commercial banking operations in its new Eastern, Central and Western Banking Groups. The company recently announced its new organizational structure following its pending acquisition of Golden West Financial Corporation. Retail Banking Executives - Kathryn Dinkin will manage Wachovia's retail and small business banking efforts for the Central Banking Group, which comprises Texas, Colorado, Kansas and Illinois. She will be based in Dallas. This is an expansion of Dinkin's previous role as Wachovia's retail banking executive for Texas. - Jim Foley will lead retail and small business efforts in Northern California and Nevada. He will be based in Oakland, Calif. Foley most recently served as retail banking executive for Wachovia in the Southeast. - Michelle Lee will lead Wachovia's retail and small business banking efforts for the 14 states in its new Eastern Banking Group. Lee will be based in Summit, N.J. She most recently served as retail banking executive for Wachovia's operations in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. - George Swygert will lead retail and small business banking in Southern California and Arizona. He will be based in West Los Angeles. Most recently, Swygert served as retail banking executive for the Western Financial retail branches that Wachovia acquired in Southern California through its merger with Westcorp. "I'm proud of the talented team of veteran bankers we have assembled to lead our retail and small business efforts across the country," said Cece Sutton, head of Wachovia's Retail and Small Business Bank. "We look forward to expanding our service and convenience to customers as we move westward. I know these are the right leaders to help us build Wachovia's service reputation in new markets and to keep that reputation strong in our core markets in the East." Commercial Banking Executives - Howard Halle will lead commercial banking efforts for California, Arizona and Nevada. He will be based in Oakland, Calif. Halle most recently served as the commercial banking executive for Florida, Tennessee and Alabama. - Cecil Edwards will serve as the commercial banking executive for Texas, Colorado and Kansas. He will be based in Dallas. This is an expansion of Edwards's most recent role as the commercial banking executive for Texas. "Howard and Cecil's experience with Wachovia, combined with their knowledge of commercial banking, will be invaluable as we continue to grow and expand to serve companies in the Central and Western United States," said Wachovia Wholesale Banking Executive Carlos Evans. "In their new roles, these leaders join an exceptional team of four commercial banking executives who lead our regions within the Eastern Banking Group." About Wachovia Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) is one of the nation's largest diversified financial services companies, providing 13.4 million household and business relationships with a broad range of banking, asset management, wealth management and corporate and investment banking products and services. Wachovia has retail and commercial banking operations in 16 states with 3,109 offices from Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas and California. Two core businesses operate under the Wachovia Securities brand name: retail brokerage in 49 states and in Latin America, and corporate and investment banking in selected industries nationwide. Globally, Wachovia serves clients through more than 40 international offices. Online banking is available at wachovia.com; online brokerage products and services at wachoviasec.com, and investment products and services at evergreeninvestments.com. Wachovia had assets of $553.6 billion, market capitalization of $86.0 billion and stockholders' equity of $48.9 billion at June 30, 2006. The proposed merger with Golden West Financial Corporation (NYSE:GDW), parent of World Savings Bank, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2006, pending shareholder and regulatory approval. With this proposed merger, Wachovia would strengthen its position in California, Texas, Florida, New Jersey and New York, and enter attractive metropolitan areas in five additional states: Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas and Nevada. The combined company would serve banking customers through 3,400 offices in 21 states and Washington, D.C. In addition, Wachovia would gain mortgage lending operations under the World Savings Bank name in 39 states. DATASOURCE: Wachovia Corporation CONTACT: Mary Beth Navarro, +1-704-374-2292, or Iris Cumberbatch, +1-704-374-2026, both of Wachovia Corporation Web site: http://www.wachovia.com/ http://www.wachoviasec.com/ http://www.evergreeninvestments.com/

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