THE FINANCIAL HOLDING COMPANY OF
WESTERNBANK PUERTO RICO
Contineues "The Evolution of the Banking Revolution”

WHI solidifies Senior Management Team of Westernbank

Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, August 7th, 2006. W HOLDING COMPANY, INC. (NYSE: "WHI"), the financial holding company of WESTERNBANK PUERTO RICO, and José M. Biaggi, Esq., President and CEO of Westernbank, announced today the appointments of Rafael A. Somoza as Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer, and Aurelio J. Emanuelli, Esq. as Chief Legal Officer of Westernbank.

“As Chief Strategy and Corporate Development Officer, Rafael will have a lead role defining and overseeing the execution of the transformational goals needed to take Westernbank to its next growth phase", said Mr. Biaggi. "This will involve identifying and putting in place new growth initiatives, as well as working with, and across, all existing business units to ensure that specific plans, resources, deliverables and measurable objectives are all in place in order to achieve the desired results. Rafael Somoza’s proven entrepreneurial and execution skills as well as his diverse professional background in commercial and investment banking, private equity and real estate, are a great addition to our executive management team as we enter our next growth stage.”

Prior to his appointment, Mr. Somoza was the CEO of VIU Media, the largest local majority-owned outdoor advertising company in Puerto Rico. This business, which he started with a partner in late 1999 with the backing of a group of local investors and U.S. private equity funds, was successfully sold in February of this year to a publicly traded company. Mr. Somoza’s professional experience also includes having worked for CS First Boston, where he was actively involved in structuring over $1.2 billion in financing for public and private issuers. He has also worked for Chase Manhattan Bank in its Corporate Finance Department in Puerto Rico and has been involved in several private residential and tourism-related real estate development projects.

Mr. Somoza (36) holds a B.A. in Economics and Political Science, magna cum laude, from Yale University and an MBA from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. In 2004, he and his business partner were awarded the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Media Category in Puerto Rico.

“In his role as Chief Legal Officer, Aurelio will direct and manage Westernbank’s legal staff and outside counsel and will assist Westernbank and W Holding Co. on corporate governance, public disclosure and risk management program,” said Mr. Biaggi. “Aurelio not only has experience in a wide range of banking and securities regulatory matters, but also has specific hands-on experience in general corporate and transactional matters. We are extremely pleased to have been able to recruit one of Puerto Rico’s most respected banking lawyers.”

Throughout his 15 year legal career, Mr. Emanuelli, excelled practicing law as a partner with the two largest law firms in Puerto Rico, where he focused his practice in banking and securities law and counseled and worked extensively in a diverse range of issues and transactions with several publicly traded financial holding companies operating in the U.S., Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.

Mr. Emanuelli (39) holds a B.A. in History, magna cum laude, from Yale University and a Juris Doctor degree from Yale Law School.

“The appointment of these two highly qualified and respected professionals is a clear example of the continuation of what we have termed the “Evolution of the Banking Revolution” which began last year with my appointment as President and CEO of Westernbank. These appointments further strengthen the Bank’s senior management, allowing it to continue towards its next growth phase in the years to come. Their contributions will be key in the expansion phase of our Bank and in its evolution into a larger, more diversified and profitable financial institution,” Biaggi said.

More specifically, Rafael and Aurelio will both be key participants in the expansion plans of the Bank in the mainland. The Bank has already chartered a commercial lending entity for the state of Florida to commence operations in Palm Beach, and continues its growth and development strategy in the U.S. mainland in additional potential locations such as: Colorado, New York, Boston, and Atlanta. As our actions demonstrate, we are not only merely planning and strategizing our goals, we are taking concrete action to achieve them – bringing in key players that will facilitate and accelerate their achievement,” Biaggi emphasized.

This press release may contain some information that constitutes "forward-looking statements." Such information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," "continue," or "believe" or the negatives or other variations of these terms or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements with respect to future financial conditions, result of operations and businesses of the Company are always subject to various risk and market factors out of management's control, which could cause future results to differ materially from current management expectations or estimates, and as such, should be understood. Such factors include particularly, but are not limited to, the possibility of prolonged adverse economic conditions or that an adverse interest rate environment could develop.

Westernbank Puerto Rico, a wholly owned subsidiary of W Holding Company, Inc., is the second largest commercial bank in Puerto Rico, based on total assets, operating throughout 55 full-fledged branches, including 33 in the Southwestern region of Puerto Rico, 7 in the Northeastern region, 13 at the San Juan Metropolitan area of Puerto Rico and 2 in the Eastern region of Puerto Rico, and a fully functional banking site on the Internet. W Holding Company, Inc. also owns Westernbank Insurance Corp., a general insurance agent placing property, casualty, life and disability insurance, whose results of operations and financial condition are reported on a consolidated basis.