Whatley Drake & Kallas, LLC Announces Filing of Class Action Lawsuit Against Popular, Inc. June 26, 2009

NEW YORK, June 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The law firm of Whatley Drake & Kallas, LLC today announced that a class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico on behalf of purchasers of securities of Popular, Inc. (Nasdaq: BPOP, BPOPP) ("Popular" or "the Company") between January 23, 2008 and January 22, 2009, inclusive (the "Class Period").

The Complaint charges Popular and certain of its officers and directors with violations of the federal securities laws. Popular is a financial services provider with operations in Puerto Rico, the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

The Complaint alleges that defendants issued materially false and misleading statements, including a materially false and misleading registration statement and prospectus in connection with Popular's May 28, 2008 offering of Series B preferred shares, that misrepresented and failed to disclose that: (i) the Company's deferred tax assets relating to its U.S. operations were materially overstated; (ii) the Company was experiencing increasing loan losses in Puerto Rico and the U.S. construction sectors; (iii) the quality of the Company's remaining mortgage-related loans in its U.S. mainland portfolios and other assets were deteriorating and were materially overstated; (iv) the Company was experiencing a higher percentage of non-performing loans; (v) the Company's new loan originations were declining; and (vi) as a result of the foregoing, the Company would soon be facing liquidity concerns and would be forced to cut or eliminate paying a dividend to shareholders.

On January 22, 2009, the Company announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2008. For the quarter, the Company reported a substantial net loss of $702.9 million due to, among other things, higher provisions for loan losses in the construction sectors in Puerto Rico and the U.S. and mortgage-related loans in the Company's U.S. mainland portfolios, and the recording of a substantial valuation allowance for deferred tax assets related to the Company's U.S. operations.

If you are a member of the class described above and wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than July 13, 2009. Any member of the class may move the Court to serve as lead plaintiff through counsel of their choice. Your ability to share in any recovery is not, however, affected by the decision whether or not to serve as a lead plaintiff. If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact Adam Plant of Whatley Drake & Kallas, LLC at 1-888-295-1923, or via e-mail at aplant@wdklaw.com. Additional counsel in this case include the Wood Law Firm of Birmingham, Ala., and the Quetglas Law Offices of Puerto Rico.