ROYAL OAKS BANK

First Banks, Inc. (“First Banks”) and Royal Oaks Bancshares, Inc. (“Royal Oaks”) jointly announce completion of the previously announced acquisition of Royal Oaks and its wholly owned banking subsidiary, Royal Oaks Bank, ssb, a Texas savings bank, by First Banks for approximately $38.6 million in cash. Royal Oaks, headquartered in Houston, Texas, operates five banking offices in the Houston area and was in the process of opening one additional de novo branch banking office in the Heights, near downtown Houston. The Heights banking office will be opened in conjunction with the data processing conversion to First Banks’ systems that is scheduled to occur in mid-April 2007. At December 31, 2006, Royal Oaks reported assets of $206.5 million, loans, net of unearned discount, of $167.0 million, deposits of $159.7 million and stockholders’ equity of $12.6 million. Royals Oaks Bank, ssb, was merged with and into First Bank, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of First Banks.

At December 31, 2006, First Banks reported assets of $10.16 billion, loans, net of unearned discount, of $7.67 billion, deposits of $8.44 billion and stockholders’ equity of $800.4 million. First Banks currently operates 193 banking offices in California, Illinois, Missouri and Texas.

As our customer, we understand that you may have questions about how this transaction may affect your accounts. We are committed to making any changes that will occur as beneficial to you as possible and are working hard to ensure that we minimize any inconvenience. We are also committed to keeping you informed, and will keep this site updated with helpful information.