City National Corp. receives regulatory approvals for Ventura County National Bancorp merger.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 24, 1996--City National Corp. (NYSE:CYN)(CNC) and Ventura County National Bancorp (VCNB) Tuesday announced that all regulatory approvals related to the merger of VCNB into CNC have been received, further clearing the path for the successful completion of the transaction.

As a result, and subject to approval by VCNB shareholders at a meeting slated for Jan. 14, 1997, CNC is expected to complete the acquisition on Friday, Jan. 17, 1997.

Directly following the merger, VCNB's two banking subsidiaries -- Ventura County National Bank and Frontier Bank, N.A. -- will merge into CNC's banking subsidiary, City National Bank. At the completion of the transaction, CNC will have approximately $4.2 billion in assets, $3.2 billion in deposits and $410 million in stockholders' equity.

Six new offices will be added following the completion of the merger.

City National Corp.'s principal subsidiary, City National Bank, is the largest independent bank with headquarters in Southern California. A federally chartered, $3.9 billion commercial bank based in Beverly Hills, City National has 23 offices throughout Los Angeles, Orange and San Diego counties.

In addition to the merger of VCNB, four new branches are expected to open under the CNB name with a planned merger of Riverside National Bank into City National Bank, also in January 1997. For more information about City National, please call our Fax-On-Demand Information Service. The 24-hour toll-free number is 800/873-5293.

CONTACT: City National Bank, Beverly Hills

Frank Pekny, 310/888-6700 (Financial)

J.A. Dunnigan, 310/888-6636 (Media)

or

Ventura County National Bancorp

Richard S. Cupp, 805/981-2740 (Financial)

or

Golin/Harris

Melissa Robinson, 213/623-4200 (Media)