CFX announces appointment of James W. Gribbons Sr. as vice president and director of business development for Investment and Trust Services

Business Wire, March 18, 1997

KEENE, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 1997-- CFX Corporation (AMEX:CFX) today announced that James W. Gribbons, Sr. has been appointed vice president and director of business development for the Investment and Trust Services Division of the banking subsidiaries of CFX Corporation -- CFX Bank, Safety Fund National Bank and Orange Savings Bank. Gribbons will be based in Fitchburg, Mass., and report to Stephen R. Shirley, senior vice president and senior trust officer. In this newly-created position, Gribbons is responsible for setting business development strategy and goals, developing sales and incentive programs, and hiring and managing the sales staff.

"Bringing Jim on board is a major step in our continuing efforts to make CFX Corporation's investment and trust services the best in the business," commented Shirley. "Jim's broad experience and excellent knowledge of the specific needs of the clients in our markets make him the ideal person for this position as CFX brings professional investment and trust expertise to the communities we serve."

Gribbons has over 20 years' experience in banking. Previously, he was senior vice president for Fleet Bank's Investment, Trust and Private Banking Division serving the Worcester County and Boston metro-west areas. He joined Fleet as a result of that bank's merger with Shawmut Bank, where he had been employed since 1975. In addition to in-depth investment and trust experience, Gribbons has broad banking experience having held various management positions in commercial lending, municipal finance, and consumer and private banking.

Gribbons graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with a degree in Public Management and was a member of the Phi Kappa Phi honor society. He holds an MBA in Finance from Anna Maria College and has attended management symposia at Clark University, Bentley College, Babson College and Williams College. He has been associated with more than 35 civic, charitable and professional organizations.

CFX Corporation is a multi-bank holding company with total assets of $1.6 billion as of December 31, 1996. The Company's three banking subsidiaries are CFX Bank, headquartered in Keene, N.H.; Orange Savings Bank, headquartered in Orange, Mass.; and Safety Fund National Bank, headquartered in Fitchburg, Mass. CFX Mortgage, Inc., CFX Bank's mortgage banking subsidiary, services approximately $765 million in mortgage loans for others. In addition, CFX Funding L.L.C., a 51 percent owned subsidiary of CFX Bank that engages in the facilitation of lease financing and rated securitizations, now services over $100 million in leases for others. The Company operates 43 full service offices, two loan production offices and 72 automated teller machines and remote service banking locations in New Hampshire and central Massachusetts as well as an investment and trust division with $380 million in assets under management. CFX Corporation and Portsmouth (N.H.) Savings Bank recently announced that Portsmouth Savings Bank will become a subsidiary of CFX pending shareholder and regulatory approval. The exact date of the merger has not been determined.

CONTACT: Cindy Zett

CFX Corporation

(603) 355-8663

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Greg Soucy

Soucy Communications Group

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