FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, December 19, 2001

Contact:
Rafael Valladares
Chief Financial Officer
Tel. (787) 771-6800 ext. 6175


                          ORIENTAL RAISES $35 MILLION
         Trust Preferred Securities provide lower interest expense than
                              other local issues

San Juan, Puerto Rico - Jose E. Fernandez, President and Chief Executive Officer
of Oriental Financial Group Inc. (NYSE:OFG), announced that the Group raised
$35 million for general capital purposes through the issuance of trust
preferred securities (TPS) by a wholly-owned business trust subsidiary.

"We have accessed significant resources with a minimal cost and effort by using
Trust Preferred Securities," stated Fernandez. "These securities are a low-cost
form of regulatory (Tier 1) capital. The initial coupon rate is 5.60%, much
lower than rates seen in other issues sold by peer institutions in Puerto Rico
in recent years." The TPS issued by Oriental have a 30-year maturity, pay a
floating interest rate, and are callable at par after five years.

In explaining how this type of arrangement functions, Fernandez said, "Oriental
and various financial institutions issue securities to an offshore pooling
vehicle, which in turn sells its own securities to private market investors."

Fernandez added that, "issuing these securities took less than 60 days from the
start of the process to the date we received the funds, with a significant
reduction in documentation and time when compared to underwritten public issues
of preferred stock." The closing date for the TPS was December 18, 2001.

The TPS have not been registered under the Securities Act of 1933, the Puerto
Rico Uniform Securities Act, or any state "blue-sky" securities law, and have
been offered outside the United States pursuant to certain exemptions from the
registration requirements of said laws. The TPS cannot be offered or sold in
the United States and Puerto Rico unless they are subsequently registered under
such laws or unless applicable exemptions from registration are available.

ABOUT ORIENTAL FINANCIAL GROUP

Oriental Financial Group Inc. is a financial holding company that provides
diversified financial services to clients throughout Puerto Rico. The Group's
core businesses are financial planning, trust, money management, insurance and
investment brokerage services, as well as a full range of consumer, commercial
and mortgage banking products through 20 financial centers. The Group is a
well-capitalized institution that operates within U.S. banking laws and
regulations. MORE INFORMATION ON THE GROUP CAN BE FOUND AT
WWW.ORIENTALONLINE.COM.