Press Releases

"We are pleased to be recognized among the best in the securities lending industry," said Gary Rupert, chief executive officer of WGSL. "Our rankings in this survey validate our steadfast commitment to superior customer service with a particular focus on risk management, performance and efficiency."

The survey, which comprised responses from more than 200 beneficial owners, was divided into 10 categories. WGSL scored in the top five in each category and ranked third overall. In addition, WGSL ranked second in the "income generated" and "level of indemnification" categories and third in categories for "reporting and transparency," "application of technology," and "settlement and responsiveness to recalls."

"We're in a unique position – through our alignment with Wachovia – to put our proven, reliable business plan to work in capturing opportunities both in the United States and, with increasing intensity, in international markets, where third-party lending is starting to gain momentum," said Gene Picone, managing director of WGSL. "We also attribute much of our success to the tremendous loyalty of our clients."

ISF magazine is an international magazine dedicated to the business of securities finance. It provides coverage of the securities lending and repo, prime brokerage and hedge fund industries and reports on the regulatory, tax and legal developments in these markets.

Through securities lending programs, institutional investors (lenders) generate additional revenue by temporarily lending securities to broker-dealers (borrowers) to provide liquidity to the markets, facilitate trade settlements, manage risk or execute other trading strategies.

Wachovia Global Securities Lending, formerly Metropolitan West Securities, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Wachovia Bank, NA. WGSL is an investment advisory, asset management and broker/dealer firm specializing in securities lending and short-term fixed-income asset management. WGSL is one of the nation's largest, most respected third-party securities lending providers, with a national client base consisting of major institutional fund and corporate portfolios.

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. 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 768 offices in 48 states and service affiliate offices in Latin America, and corporate and investment banking serving clients in selected corporate and institutional sectors globally. Other nationwide businesses include mortgage lending in all 50 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 March 31, 2007, Wachovia had assets of $706.4 billion and market capitalization of $105.3 billion.