W Holding Co Inc - SERIES H

W Holding Co Inc was organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico in February 1999. The Company offers a range of financial services through its wholly-owned commercial bank subsidiary, Westernbank Puerto Rico ('Westernbank' or the 'Bank'). Westernbank was founded as a savings institution in 1958 operating in the western and southwestern regions of Puerto Rico, focusing on retail banking and emphasizing long-term fixed-rate residential mortgage loans on one-to-four family residential properties. In 1994, it changed its charter to become a full-service commercial bank. Westernbank offers a range of business and consumer financial services, including banking, trust and brokerage services. Its traditional banking operations include retail operations, such as its branches, including the branches of the Expresso division, together with consumer loans, mortgage loans, commercial loans, investments (treasury) and deposit products. Besides the traditional banking operations, Westernbank operates five other divisions: Westernbank International Division, which is an International Banking Entity (IBE), which offers commercial banking and related services, and treasury and investment activities outside of Puerto Rico; Westernbank Business Credit (WBC), which specializes in commercial business loans secured mainly by commercial real estate, accounts receivable, inventory and equipment; Westernbank Trust Division, which offers an array of trust services; Expresso of Westernbank, a division which specializes in small, unsecured consumer loans up to $15,000 and real estate collateralized consumer loans up to $150,000; and Westernbank International Trade Services, a division which specializes in international trade products and services. During the first quarter of 2008, the operations of the WBC division, were integrated into the operations of the commercial loans department of Westernbank, under the name of the Asset Based Lending Unit. Westernbank operates through a network of 49 bank branches located throughout Puerto Rico, including 26 in the Western and Southwestern regions, 14 in the San Juan metropolitan area, 7 in the Northeastern region, and 2 in the Eastern region, and a website on the Internet. Its deposits, including Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), are insured by the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF), which is administered by the FDIC, up to $250,000 per depositor. The Company competes with other commercial and non-commercial banks, finance companies, mutual funds, insurance companies, brokerage and investment banking firms, asset-based non-bank lenders and certain other non-financial institutions, including certain governmental organizations which might offer subsidized financing at lower rates than those offered by the Company. As a bank holding company, the Company is subject to the regulation, supervision, and examination by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.