Press Releases

"Wachovia continues to see Latin America as a critical marketplace for our business," said Michael Heavener, head of Wachovia's Global Financial Institutions and Trade Division. "We are proud of our long-standing presence and commitment to this market and our strong and growing relationships with the region's major financial institutions."

Wachovia manages business development in Latin America through offices in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, and Argentina as well as in Miami, Fla., and San Diego, Calif.

"Our narrow, yet deep focus on financial institutions banking is widely recognized throughout Latin America, where we are a full-service provider of correspondent banking services, including financing, payments, credit, collections, trade and capital markets solutions," said Carlos A. Perez, managing director and head of Wachovia's Americas Division.

FImetrix Research recently confirmed Wachovia's leadership in Latin America by ranking Wachovia No. 1 in market share, customer satisfaction and operational product quality. The study also ranked Wachovia the top provider of payments, cash letter and trade services in the region as well as ranking Wachovia's relationship managers No. 1 in overall responsiveness and product knowledge.

Wachovia will be well-represented at the conference by a contingent of more than 25 executives, including:

• Michael Heavener, executive vice president, head of Global Financial Institutions and Trade Services;
• Carlos Perez, managing director, head of Americas for Global Financial Institutions and Trade Services;
• Ariel Marin, managing director, regional director for Global Financial Institutions and Trade Service;  
• Jones Castro, managing director, regional director for Global Financial Institutions and Trade Services; and
• Terry Messmer, managing director, head of Risk Management for Global Financial Institutions and Trade Services.

Perez, a 26-year veteran of global banking, will give a keynote speech highlighting the implications of continued consolidation, the growth of compliance and corporate governance and strategies to control profitability and efficiently allocate resources.

Wachovia's International Division has a 200-year legacy in International correspondent banking. FImetrix Research recently ranked Wachovia the top correspondent bank provider in Asia and Latin America in market share, the No. 4 provider in Western Europe, and the No. 1 bank worldwide in overall customer satisfaction. Wachovia is a global leader in correspondent banking and trade services, and maintains more than 7,000 correspondent relationships in more than 130 countries through a network of 44 offices, including seven overseas branches.

About Wachovia
Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) is one of the nation's largest diversified financial services companies, providing a broad range of retail banking and brokerage, asset and wealth management, and corporate and investment banking products and services. Including the Golden West merger, which closed on Oct. 1, 2006, Wachovia has retail and commercial banking operations in 21 states with 3,400 retail banking offices from Connecticut to Florida and west to Texas and California. In addition, two core businesses operate under the Wachovia Securities brand name: retail brokerage with 737 offices in 49 states and in Latin America, and corporate and investment banking in selected industries nationwide. Other nationwide businesses include mortgage lending in 39 states and auto finance covering 46 states. 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. At Sept. 30, 2006, Wachovia had assets of $559.9 billion and market capitalization of $88.2 billion. On the same date, based on pro forma data, Wachovia's combined assets were approximately $700 billion and combined market capitalization was $107 billion.