Regions Bank Announces New Leadership in Southeast Florida

Angel Medina, Regions Bank Southeast Florida area executive, announces two key leadership positions in the Southeast Florida market that includes all banking operations in metropolitan Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties. Gerry Litrento will be the city president for Broward County, and Val Perez will be the city president for Palm Beach County.

"Southeast Florida is an important part of Regions' franchise, and I am confident Gerry and Val have the leadership and talent to leverage many growth opportunities and to deepen customer relationships in Broward and Palm Beach Counties," said Medina. "Their expertise will reinforce Regions' focus on local market autonomy, and they will continue providing the very best in financial services for our commercial banking and commercial real estate customers."

In late May, Regions announced plans to merge with AmSouth Bancorporation. The transaction, which is scheduled to close during fourth quarter of this year, will make the new Regions the fourth largest bank in Florida with more than 300 offices from Miami to Pensacola.

"The new Regions is carefully evaluating its branch development plans and structure to respond to the many opportunities the Southeast Florida market presents," said Medina. "We have made a commitment to build the new branches required to support this market's potential for tremendous growth."

Litrento joined Regions in 2003 and has been managing Regions' Broward/Palm Beach commercial banking portfolio. Prior to joining Regions, he served as a Commercial Market executive for Bank of America. Perez joined Regions' Miami-Dade group in 2001 to head retail banking and most recently served as president for Regions Bank in southwest Florida. His banking career spans more than 20 years with Bank of America and Northern Trust.

About Regions Financial Corporation

A community-focused bank with local leadership, Regions Bank currently offers full-service commercial and retail banking from some 1,300 offices and a 1,600-ATM network across 16 states throughout the South, Midwest and Texas. Headquartered in Birmingham, Ala., the bank, a part of Regions Financial Corporation (NYSE: RF), draws on the resources of its parent company's other affiliates to ensure that both business and retail customers can avail themselves of a full range of financial products and services in the areas of mortgage banking, securities brokerage and insurance. Additional information about Regions Bank and Regions Financial Corporation - a member of both the Forbes and Fortune 500 and one of the nation's Top 15 banks - can be found at www.regions.com.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.