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Doral Financial Corporation: Doral Bank Takes First in American Bankers Association Financial Marketing Awards

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^{Published in Business and Finance on Thursday, September 17th 2009 at 12:31 GMT by Market Wire}  

SAN JUAN, PR--(Marketwire - September 17, 2009) - Doral Bank (NYSE: [ DRL ]) has claimed one of the top prizes of the 2009 American Bankers Association Financial Marketing Awards. The financial institution's corporate image transformation, which includes its re-branding campaign and community programs, won in the category of Impact Campaign, which honors campaigns that evoke an emotional response, benefit the community or reach out to minorities and women. The ABA Awards recognize the best bank advertising and marketing campaigns from across the U.S. Doral won in the category that featured companies with over $5 billion in assets.

Doral also recently received a Country Award for Achievement and was named the 2009 Bank of the Year by UK-based ACQ Finance Magazine. The winner was selected through an independent poll of ACQ readers, contributors, and industry experts. ACQ boasts a readership of over 50,000 key decision makers from across Europe, the U.K, and the U.S.

Doral's 2008 transformation to a full-service community bank was launched through an energetic image campaign that brought the Bank's new slogan "eres parte d" (You're a part of Doral) and branch color scheme to life. Soon after, the creation of two first-class community programs in "Ruta Pink" (The Pink Route) and "domingos d-museo" (Sundays at the Museum), both designed to improve the quality of life in Puerto Rico, garnered national and international recognition. Both programs helped strengthen and further validate Doral's commitment to center everything on its customers and communities.

Ruta Pink, a never-before-seen community program created by Doral in collaboration with Susan G. Komen For the Cure Puerto Rico, offers free mammograms and educational seminars throughout Puerto Rico to women that do not benefit from health insurance. Ruta Pink has already won two Gold Hermes Creative Awards for Best Public Relations Campaign and Best Community Public Relations campaign, while Doral's re-branding campaign took Platinum in the Best Public Relations Campaign category.

Meanwhile, "domingos d-museo," created alongside the Puerto Rico Museum of Art (MAPR, by its Spanish acronym), received two Honorable Mentions in both of the aforementioned categories. The innovative program offered the general public free access to the MAPR and a wide range of cultural activities every Sunday throughout September of 2008. And most recently, Caribbean Business, the leading business weekly newspaper on the Island, honored Glen R. Wakeman, Doral Financial Corporation's President and Chief Executive Officer, as one of Puerto Rico's Top 10 Business Leaders. Wakeman joined Doral in 2006.

"These awards belong to the 1,000 plus Doral associates whose hard work and dedication have helped transform Doral to a healthy community bank," said Wakeman.

About Doral

Doral Financial Corporation (NYSE: [ DRL ]) is the holding company of Doral Bank, a $10 billion-asset community bank with 39 branches strategically located throughout Puerto Rico and a lending operation in New York. Doral Bank services approximately 450,000 clients by providing a full array of financial services.