19 Fifth Third Bank | All Rights Reserved Cautionary Statement This report may contain forward-looking statements about Fifth Third Bancorp and/or the company as combined acquired entities within the meaning of Sections 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Rule 175 promulgated thereunder, and 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Rule 3b-6 promulgated thereunder, that involve inherent risks and uncertainties. This report may contain certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business of Fifth Third Bancorp and/or the combined company including statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words or phrases such as “believes,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “trend,” “objective,” “continue,” “remain” or similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” “might,” “can,” “may” or similar expressions. There are a number of important factors that could cause future results to differ materially from historical performance and these forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to: (1) general economic conditions, either national or in the states in which Fifth Third, one or more acquired entities and/or the combined company do business, are less favorable than expected; (2) political developments, wars or other hostilities may disrupt or increase volatility in securities markets or other economic conditions; (3) changes in the interest rate environment reduce interest margins; (4) prepayment speeds, loan origination and sale volumes, charge-offs and loan loss provisions; (5) changes and trends in capital markets; (6) competitive pressures among depository institutions increase significantly; (7) effects of critical accounting policies and judgments; (8) changes in accounting policies or procedures as may be required by the Financial Accounting Standards Board or other regulatory agencies; (9) legislative or regulatory changes or actions, or significant litigation, adversely affect Fifth Third, one or more acquired entities and/or the combined company or the businesses in which Fifth Third, one or more acquired entities and/or the combined company are engaged; (10) ability to maintain favorable ratings from rating agencies; (11) fluctuation of Fifth Third’s stock price; (12) ability to attract and retain key personnel; (13) ability to receive dividends from its subsidiaries; (14) potentially dilutive effect of future acquisitions on current shareholders' ownership of Fifth Third; (15) difficulties in combining the operations of acquired entities; (16) ability to secure confidential information through the use of computer systems and telecommunications network; and (17) the impact of reputational risk created by these developments on such matters as business generation and retention, funding and liquidity. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements is available in the Bancorp's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006, as amended, filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Copies of this filing are available at no cost on the SEC's Web site at www.sec.gov or on the Fifth Third’s Web site at www.53.com. Fifth Third undertakes no obligation to release revisions to these forward-looking statements or reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report. |