NewAlliance to Present at RBC Capital Markets Financial Institutions Conference

Business Wire, Sept 18, 2006

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- NewAlliance Bancshares, Inc. (NYSE: NAL) will present at the RBC Capital Markets Financial Institutions Conference being held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston.

Peyton R. Patterson, NewAlliance Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and Merrill B. Blanksteen, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, will present at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday, September 20, 2006. The Company's presentation will be available at the Company's website, www.newalliancebank.com, in the Investor Relations section, at the time of presentation and for 30 days after.

NewAlliance Bancshares is a New Haven, Connecticut headquartered regional banking and financial services company and the parent company of NewAlliance Bank, the third largest bank headquartered in Connecticut and sixth largest headquartered in New England. On July 18, 2006, NewAlliance announced a definitive agreement to acquire Westbank Corporation (NASDAQ: WBKC), extending the NewAlliance footprint into Massachusetts. On June 30, 2006, the Company had $7.1 billion in assets and $3.9 billion in deposits.

This press release does not constitute an offer of securities. NewAlliance and Westbank have filed a registration statement, a proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant documents concerning the proposed transaction with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). Shareholders of Westbank are urged to read the registration statement, the proxy statement/prospectus and all other documents which will be filed with the SEC, and any amendments or supplements to those documents, because they will contain important information which you should consider before making any decision regarding the merger. Shareholders of Westbank will be mailed the proxy statement/prospectus following the SEC's declaration of effectiveness of the related registration statement. You will be able to obtain a free copy of the proxy statement/prospectus, as well as other filings containing information about NewAlliance and Westbank, at the SEC's web site (http://www.sec.gov) and at their respective web sites, www.newalliancebank.com and www.westbankonline.com.