Western Liberty Bancorp Announces Regulators Lift Consent Order

Western Liberty Bancorp, Inc. WLBC today announced that as a result of the strong capital levels of its banking subsidiary, Service1st Bank of Nevada (Service1st Bank), the Federal Deposit Insurance Company (FDIC) and the State of Nevada Financial Institutions Divisions issued a joint order terminating the regulatory Consent Order entered into on September 1, 2010, with the Bank, the FDIC and the NFID. Effective immediately, the Bank will no longer be subject to the terms and conditions of the Consent Order. "The termination of our Consent Order is an important milestone for us," said William Martin, Chief Executive Officer. "We are now in a much better position to move forward to rebuild our franchise." At September 30, 2011, capital levels were well above those required by regulators: Service1st Bank has exceptionally strong capital ratios with Tier 1 Capital/risk-weighted assets of 28.4%. Western Liberty also has exceptionally strong capital with Tier 1 Capital/risk-weighted assets of 73.6%. Tangible book value increased to $5.54 per share, based on 14,448,610 shares outstanding. Total cash and cash equivalents held by Western Liberty was $95.0 million, of which $49.4 million is at the holding company level.