People's United Bank Names Chief Risk Officer

Chantal Simon Joins Bank from Role as Chief Risk Officer of Merrill Lynch U.S.
Bank Entities

BRIDGEPORT, Conn., May 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- People's United Bank
(Nasdaq: PBCT) announced today that it has hired Chantal Simon as Executive
Vice President and Chief Risk Officer. Simon will be a member of the bank's
Management Committee and report directly to Philip R. Sherringham, President
and Chief Executive Officer.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090511/NY14626 )

Simon, a professional with a two-decade career at Merrill Lynch, was, most
recently, Chief Risk Officer and Head of Risk Management, for the firm's U.S.
regulated bank businesses, which include, Merrill Lynch Bank USA, Merrill
Lynch Bank & Trust FSB and Merrill Lynch Bank (Cayman). In this role she was
responsible for credit risk management, market risk management and credit
review and also had significant involvement with the banks' regulators.
Chantal began her career at Merrill in investment banking in fixed-income
origination and also has worked in mergers and acquisitions/restructuring and
loan portfolio management groups at the firm. She began her career at Lazard
Freres and is a graduate of Brown University and Harvard Business School.

"The importance of risk management has been highlighted over the past year, as
the crisis in the financial sector and broader economy has unfurled,"
Sherringham said. "We have a strong record of risk management at People's
United as evidenced, in part, by our continued superior asset quality relative
to our peers. With the growth of the bank and plans for further substantial
expansion through acquisition, it has become apparent that we need a single
point of responsibility for enterprise risk management. I am delighted that we
have found a professional with as solid experience as Chantal."

"I am looking forward to joining the People's United Bank team, particularly
given the organization's financial strength and the range of opportunities
available to it," Simon said. "I am delighted to have the opportunity to bring
my skills and experience to such a high-quality and dynamic company."

People's United Bank, a diversified financial services company with $20
billion in assets, provides consumer and commercial banking services through a
network of subsidiary banks with approximately 300 branches in Connecticut,
Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine and New York. Through additional
subsidiaries, People's United Financial, the parent of People's United Bank,
provides equipment financing, asset management, brokerage and financial
advisory services, and insurance services.

People's United Bank. Everything Starts With You.

SOURCE People's United Bank

Valerie Carlson, Corporate Communications of People's United Bank,
+1-203-338-2351, valerie.carlson@peoples.com