BankUnited Opens Four Branches in Two Months, Ends Fiscal Year With 15 New Locations.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- BankUnited Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:BKUNA), parent company of BankUnited FSB, today announced it opened four branches in the last two months of 2005. For the calendar year ending Dec. 31, 2005, the company opened 15 branches, as compared to five in the prior year.

In November, BankUnited expanded its network on Florida's West Coast with branch openings in Port Charlotte and Bonita Springs. The Port Charlotte branch, which is located at 4265 Tamiami Trail, represents the company's first in Charlotte County, while the Bonita Springs branch, which is located at 3300 Bonita Beach Rd., is the company's second in Lee County. In December, BankUnited grew its South Florida network with the opening of a branch at 17051 Miramar Parkway in Miramar, Fla., and another at 2452 North Federal Highway in Lighthouse Point, Fla.

"We're pleased to bring our brand of neighborhood-banking services to more customers throughout Florida," said Alfred R. Camner, BankUnited's chairman and chief executive officer. "As we expand throughout the state, we will continue to be active community citizens and work to make the areas we serve better places to live, work and play. It's a local thing."

About BankUnited

BankUnited Financial Corp. (Nasdaq:BKUNA) is the holding company for BankUnited FSB, the largest banking institution headquartered in Florida. BankUnited had assets of $10.7 billion at Sept. 30, 2005. Serving customers in Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Collier, Lee and Charlotte counties through 65 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].