Dissident Shareholders Urge Ex-CU CutInsider Pay

CRANFORD, N.J. - (03/21/06) – A Wall Street investor groupfighting for seats on the board of credit union-convert SynergyFinancial is telling other shareholders it will lower executive anddirector pay if its wins its proxy contest. In proxy materialsfiled Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, PLCapital said if it wins the two seats on the board it will push foran increase in stock buy-backs, concentrate on raisingprofitability, reform corporate governance, and cut insidercompensation. The group, which owns a 9.9% stake on the ex-creditunion, has attacked the management and board as being overpaid,noting the $14.4 million stock and cash paid to directors andmanagements the past three years exceeds the payout to outsidestockholders by more than $2 million. The investment group said ithas met with or spoken to many other shareholders in the creditunion convert over the past two weeks. “As we have mentioned,we are not seeking full board control, but we are seeking toreinvigorate the board by nominating two highly qualified directorsto advocate for a positive change at Synergy,” the group saidin its proxy solicitation. PL Capital is contesting two of thethree seats up for reelection against three long-time directors whoengineered the conversion from credit union, then to publicly ownedsavings bank.