FCTY 1ST Century Bancshares,

1st Century Bancshares, Inc. (the "Company") (NASDAQ: FCTY), the holding company of 1st Century Bank, N.A. (the "Bank"), announced today that J. Scott Green, has been appointed as its new BSA Officer.

As BSA Officer of 1st Century Bank, Mr. Green will be responsible for overseeing adherence of the Bank's policies and procedures to federal and state laws and regulations as well as developing, implementing and administering all aspects of the Bank Secrecy Act.

Mr. Green has over 30 years of experience in Operations and Lending/Note Department with a "hands on" background in all areas of Business Development, Banking Operations and Note Operations. Nineteen years of that time was spent in management with an emphasis on BSA and Deposit and Credit Compliance. He recently completed the ABA 2010 Nationals Compliance School in both Deposit/Operations and Credit modules.

"Mr. Green is a welcome addition to our team here at 1st Century Bank," said Chairman of the Board, Alan I. Rothenberg. "He brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in the BSA field that will allow us to continue to reach our goals set forth."

Most recently, Mr. Green was SVP, BSA Officer, Privacy Officer and Information Security Officer at The Private Bank of California. He was responsible for writing all compliance policies as well as creating all BSA Policies including CIP Risk Rating forms, OFAC, FinCEN, CTR Reporting, SAR Reporting and NSA Letters, and all bank compliance trainings including BSA. He has been involved in many other areas of banking including, but not limited to, Branch Management/Operations, Core System Conversions as well as being a part of a team to start a De Novo National Bank in 2004, Excel National Bank.

He has professional certifications in CRCM: Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager Certification from ABA (through ICBA) as well as CAMS: Designation for AML professional from ACAMS.

About 1st Century Bancshares, Inc.

1st Century Bancshares, Inc. is a publicly owned company traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol "FCTY." The Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, 1st Century Bank, N.A., is headquartered in the Century City area of Los Angeles, with a full service business bank in Century City, CA, and a relationship office in Santa Monica, CA. The Bank's primary focus is serving the specific banking needs of entrepreneurs, professionals and small businesses with the personal service of a traditional community bank, while offering the technologies of a big money center bank. The Company maintains a website at www.1cbank.com. By including the foregoing website address link, the Company does not intend to and shall not be deemed to incorporate by reference any material contained therein.

Contact Information: Alan I. Rothenberg Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Phone: (310) 270-9501 Jason P. DiNapoli President/Chief Operating Officer Phone: (310) 270-9505