UB Unionbancal Corp

UnionBanCal Corporation (NYSE:UB) today announced that John C. Erickson has been promoted to Vice Chairman and Chief Risk Officer of the Company and its principal subsidiary, Union Bank of California, N.A. His promotion is effective April 1. Erickson succeeds Vice Chairman and Chief Risk Officer Masashi Oka, who has completed his rotational assignment in the United States and is returning April 1 to The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ (BTMU), where he will assume responsibilities as Executive Officer and General Manager of BTMU�s Corporate & Investment Banking Business Development Division. BTMU is the major shareowner of UnionBanCal Corporation. Erickson, a Senior Executive Vice President, was appointed Deputy Chief Risk Officer last September. In his new role as Chief Risk Officer, Erickson will have several areas of responsibility: Credit Management, Compliance, Enterprise-Wide Risk Management, Bank Secrecy Act, and Financial Intelligence. In addition, he will chair the bank�s Basel II Steering Committee and will be responsible for Corporate Real Estate and Bank Security. �John has demonstrated exceptional effectiveness in improving our compliance and risk management processes. I am confident that with John�s leadership, experience, and resolve we are well-positioned to sustain our compliance efforts and ensure the company�s long term success,� stated Masaaki Tanaka, President and Chief Executive Officer. Oka was appointed Chief Risk Officer in August 2007 and has served on the board of directors of UnionBanCal and Union Bank since 2005. Until his appointment as Chief Risk Officer, Oka served as Vice Chairman of the Administration & Support Group of the Bank. �Masashi has played a key role in building our enterprise-wide risk management culture. He has worked tirelessly to enhance internal compliance controls and processes and to keep our regulators well informed of the progress we�ve made on compliance issues. We thank him for his service, and wish him well in his new assignment,� Tanaka added. Prior to his recent assignments in the Risk Management area, Erickson was responsible for the Commercial Banking and Wealth Management Group, which was comprised of the Commercial Banking, Wealth Management, Capital Markets, National Banking, Commercial Credit Center and Commercial Loan & Trade Services units. Erickson joined the bank in 1983 as a trainee. He later managed syndications and was promoted to Senior Vice President of Corporate Capital Markets before being named Executive Vice President with responsibility for certain wholesale banking areas. Erickson is a member of Union Bank of California�s Executive Management Committee and its CEO Forum, which sets policy for the bank. Erickson will report directly to Masaaki Tanaka. Based in San Francisco, UnionBanCal Corporation (NYSE:UB) is a bank holding company with assets of $55.7 billion at December 31, 2007. Its primary subsidiary, Union Bank of California, N.A., had 330 banking offices in California, Oregon and Washington, and 2 international offices at December 31, 2007. The company's Web site is located at www.unionbank.com.