Boston Private Financial Holdings Receives Preliminary Approval to Participate in U.S. Treasury TARP Capital Purchase Program.

BOSTON -- Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: BPFH) today announced that it has received preliminary approval from the U.S. Treasury Department to participate in the Treasury's TARP Capital Purchase Program. The Treasury intends to invest approximately $150 million in Boston Private in the form of preferred stock and common stock warrants.

"We are extremely pleased by the U.S. Treasury Department's preliminary approval of a TARP capital investment in Boston Private," said Timothy Vaill, Chairman and CEO of Boston Private. "It will enhance our already strong capital position and allow us to expand lending programs in each of our markets nationwide, among other things. Along with the $173 million of funds from our highly successful capital raise in July, including a strategic investment by The Carlyle Group, this investment by the Treasury provides further additional flexibility to manage our business in the current market environment."

The Treasury Department's TARP Capital Purchase Program is a voluntary program for healthy U.S. financial institutions designed to encourage these institutions to build capital to increase the flow of financing to U.S. businesses and consumers and to support the U.S. economy.

Boston Private Financial Holdings, Inc.

BPFH is a national financial service organization comprised of independently operated affiliates located in key regions of the U.S. that offer private banking, wealth advisory and investment management services to the high net worth marketplace, selected businesses and institutions. The Company enters demographically attractive markets through a selective acquisition process and then expands by way of organic growth. It employs a distinct business strategy, empowering its affiliates to run independently such that they can best serve their clients at the local level, while at the same time providing strategic oversight and access to resources, both financial and intellectual, to support management, compliance, legal, marketing, and operations. (NASDAQ: BPFH).

For more information about BPFH, visit the Company's web site at www.bostonprivate.com.

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include, among others, statements regarding our strategy, evaluations of future interest rate trends and liquidity, prospects for growth in assets, and prospects for overall results over the long term. You should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. You should exercise caution in interpreting and relying on forward-looking statements because they are subject to significant risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements are based on the current assumptions and beliefs of management and are only expectations of future results. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of, among other factors, adverse conditions in the capital and debt markets and the impact of such conditions on the Company's private banking and asset investment advisory activities, changes in interest rates, competitive pressures from other financial institutions, a deterioration in general economic conditions on a national basis or in the local markets in which the Company operates, including changes which adversely affect borrowers' ability to service and repay our loans, changes in loan defaults and charge-off rates, adequacy of loan loss reserves, reduction in deposit levels necessitating increased borrowing to fund loans and investments, the passing of adverse government regulation, the risk that goodwill, intangibles and other assets recorded in the Company's financial statements will become impaired, and risks related to the identification and implementation of acquisitions, as well as the other risks and uncertainties detailed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and other filings submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events that occur after the date the forward-looking statements are made.