BankUnited Names Hunting F. Deutsch Executive Vice President of Wealth Management.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- BankUnited Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BKUNA), parent company of BankUnited FSB, the largest bank headquartered in Florida, today named Hunting F. Deutsch executive vice president of wealth management.

In this newly created position, Deutsch will join BankUnited's executive management team and oversee the company's growing wealth management divisions, which include the domestic and international private banking groups, as well as BankUnited Financial Services, which provides investment, retirement planning and financial planning services. In addition, he will develop a private asset management group and will focus on expanding the bank's insurance products and other offerings.

"We welcome Hunt to the BankUnited team and back to South Florida, where he has made an indelible mark on the region's banking industry," said Ramiro Ortiz, BankUnited's president and chief operating officer. "He possesses the acumen and experience required to work with our existing team of private banking professionals and move our service offerings to the next level."

Deutsch brings more than 30 years of senior-level banking experience to his position with BankUnited - more than 20 of those years spent in South Florida. Most recently, he was executive vice president of AmSouth Bank in Birmingham, Ala., where he developed and directed trust and private-client services, lending and financial-planning initiatives for one of the 20 largest financial institutions in the country. Before this, he was managing director of Citigroup Private Bank in Miami. Previously, he spent nearly 20 years with SunTrust Bank, where he was most recently president and CEO of the client and retirement services divisions, based in Orlando, Fla.

Deutsch is a former chairman of the Trust Management Association and a member of the board of advisors of the American Bankers Association National Trust Schools. He holds NASD Series 7, 66 and 24 licenses. He earned a master's degree in business administration from the University of Miami and a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of New Hampshire.

During his years in Florida, Deutsch was active in the local community. He is a former member of the board of trustees of the University of Miami, where he is past president of the University's alumni association, a recipient of the UM Butler Award for Community Service and a current member of the President's Council. In addition, he has served on the boards of various organizations and held leadership positions with the New World Symphony, Zoological Society of Florida, United Arts of Central Florida, Community Foundation of Central Florida and Leadership Florida. He is a former chairman and board member of the National Trust School.

About BankUnited

BankUnited Financial Corp. (NASDAQ:BKUNA) is the holding company for BankUnited FSB, the largest banking institution headquartered in Florida. At March 31, 2006, BankUnited had assets of $12.2 billion.

Serving customers in 11 Florida counties through 72 branches, BankUnited offers a full spectrum of consumer and commercial banking products and services, including online products that can be accessed through http://www.bankunited.com. For additional information, call [phone].