BBVA Compass Enters New Stage of Transformation Plan Focused on Upgrading U.S. Platform

The BBVA Group today announced the successful conversion of LNB (formerly Laredo National Bank) into Compass Bank, marking the final step in a year-long process to integrate BBVA’s four U.S. banks onto a single, common set of operating systems and product platforms.

At the close of business on Thursday, November 13, LNB branches were seamlessly converted to Compass’ operating systems and product platforms. In addition, the roll-out of the new U.S. brand, which began in August with the conversion of Texas State Bank, continued as BBVA Compass signs were installed at 39 LNB branches in the Rio Grande Valley, including the cities of Laredo, Del Rio and Eagle Pass.

“With the conversion of LNB, we have successfully delivered on our commitment to create a single, unified franchise by the end of 2008 while also taking a significant step toward delivering on our vision of creating the leading financial services group in the Sunbelt region,” said José María García Meyer, BBVA Country Manager-U.S. and Chairman of Compass Bank.

BBVA’s integration plan outlined the merger of BBVA’s four U.S. banks into a single, unified franchise by the end of 2008. The key milestones achieved in BBVA’s integration plan included:

• March 13: Platform integration of State National into Compass Bank
• August 21: Integration of Texas State Bank into Compass Bank
• August 21: Launch of new U.S. brand BBVA Compass
• November 13: Integration of LNB into Compass Bank

The conversion of LNB also marked the continuation of the roll-out of BBVA’s new U.S. brand, BBVA Compass. The new brand was launched with the conversion of Texas State Bank in August and re-branding efforts have also started in Colorado, New Mexico and San Antonio. The re-branding process will continue into the first quarter of 2009 as the BBVA Compass banner is introduced in all of the remaining Compass’ “legacy” markets across the Sunbelt region.

“Customers can look to these new BBVA Compass signs as a ‘blending of the best’ of BBVA, an international financial leader, and Compass Bank, and they will immediately enjoy access to a larger branch network and a broader array of products and services designed to meet their financial needs,” said García Meyer. “In addition, customers can rest assured knowing that they are part of a strong locally-run organization that has the full support of one of the world’s strongest financial groups.”

García Meyer continued, “Much of our success in delivering on the first phase of our transformation plan is the result of the leadership provided by Gary Hegel. Under his guidance, the integration of our four U.S. banks was completed seamlessly and according to schedule. Equally important, the integration of our U.S. banks is yielding more synergies than originally anticipated. We thank Gary for his dedication and hard work in achieving this milestone. We wish him and his family well in his retirement.”

“I am pleased to announce that Manolo Sanchez has been appointed President and CEO of Compass Bank,” stated García Meyer. “Manolo brings a great wealth of knowledge and experience having served in a number of senior management positions in his 18-year career at BBVA including most recently as President and CEO of Laredo National Bank. The expertise he gained as Chief Risk Officer at BBVA Bancomer will also serve us well given the current credit environment. I am confident that Manolo will provide the leadership needed as we begin the second phase of our transformation plan that is designed to upgrade our U.S. platform and instill BBVA’s customer-centric business model.”

Sanchez began his career in 1990 with BBVA in the International Financial Institutions area with responsibilities for financial analysis of credit institutions in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Eastern Europe. His career advanced with a number of increasingly responsible management positions and in 1999 was appointed Director and Senior Vice President of Global Corporate Banking at BBVA-New York.

In 2002, Sanchez was appointed Chief Risk Officer of BBVA Bancomer, the leading financial services company in Mexico. In 2005 he joined a small group of bankers that initiated the expansion of BBVA in the U.S. and was appointed President and CEO of Laredo National Bank. Since the legal merger of BBVA’s four U.S. subsidiary banks in March of 2008, Sanchez has served as Executive Vice President of Community Banking where he was responsible for commercial business activities in 57 markets stretching from Gainesville, Florida to Flagstaff, Arizona, with a strong concentration in the state of Texas.

Sanchez is a graduate of Yale University where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. He also holds Masters degrees from the London School of Economics and the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. His graduate work focused in international relations, with an emphasis in Middle Eastern affairs as well as in economic and monetary integration. He is multilingual with fluencies in Spanish, English, German and Arabic.

Throughout his career, Sanchez has served on numerous civic and charitable organizations. He recently concluded his term as a member of the Executive Committee of the Laredo Chamber of Commerce. He also served as Chairperson for the American Heart Association “HeartWalk 2007.” He currently serves as a Trustee of the Houston Symphony and is an active member of the Yale Admissions Committee.

Compass Bank ranks as the fourth largest bank in Texas and among the top 25 largest banks in the U.S. based on deposit market share. The company has total assets of approximately $61.2 billion and operates 579 branches across a six state Sunbelt Region including: 312 in Texas, 92 in Alabama, 77 in Arizona, 44 in Florida, 33 in Colorado, and 21 in New Mexico.

About Compass Bank and BBVA

Compass Bank is a subsidiary of Compass Bancshares, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of BBVA (NYSE: BBV) (MAD: BBVA). BBVA is a financial services group with more than $750 billion in total assets, 47 million clients, 8,000 branches and approximately 112,000 employees in more than 30 countries. BBVA provides its customers around the world with a full range of financial services, including commercial and wholesale banking, retail banking services, consumer loans, mortgages, credit cards, securities brokerage, wealth management, pension plan management and insurance. The BBVA Group maintains a leadership position in Spain, Mexico, Latin America and the Sunbelt Region of the United States as well as operations in China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.