Proton Bank is pleased to announce the Drawbridge Global Macro Fund, an investment fund managed by an affiliate of Fortress Investment Group LLC, has purchased 4,500,000 shares of Proton Bank stock from existing shareholders. The transaction took place today, November 1, 2006. The purchase corresponds to 9.97% of Proton''s outstanding shares, which will become 7.17% after the commencement of trading of 17,547,930 new shares due to the absorption by Proton of Omega Bank. Fortress is headquartered in New York and has affiliates with offices around the globe. Fortress and its affiliates manage approximately USD 24 billion in equity capital