Texas Supreme Court Reverses Lower Court Judgment Against Sterling Trust

Texas Supreme Court Reverses Lower Court Judgment Against
Sterling Trust 


DENVER, June 17  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Matrix Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:MTXC)
(the "Company") announced today that the Texas Supreme Court published its
opinion regarding the petition for review of Sterling Trust Company in the case
styled Sterling Trust Company v. Roderick Adderley, et. al. (No. 03-1001) which
was on appeal from the decision rendered by the Court of Appeals for the Second
District of Texas (Ft. Worth).  The Supreme Court reversed the Court of
Appeals' judgment and remanded the case to the trial court for further
proceedings consistent with its opinion.  Sterling Trust Company is a wholly
owned subsidiary of the Company.

The Tarrant County, Texas district court had originally entered a judgment of
approximately $6.4 million, plus post-judgment interest and conditional
attorneys' fees, against Sterling Trust.  Sterling Trust then appealed the
judgment to the Court of Appeals for the Second District of Texas (Fort Worth),
which in 2003 affirmed the award for actual damages of approximately $6.2
million, plus post-judgment interest and conditional attorneys' fees for the
appeals (currently estimated to be approximately $3.6 million).  Sterling
Trust's appeal to the Texas Supreme Court followed, resulting in today's
reversal and remand for further proceedings.

The Company had previously determined that an ultimate loss in the Adderley
case was not probable and therefore did not make an accrual for loss with
respect to the litigation in its consolidated financial statements.

Notwithstanding the reversal and remand for further proceedings, however, the
ultimate legal and financial liability of the Company, if any, in this matter
remains uncertain at this time.

Mr. Richard V. Schmitz, Chairman of the Board and Co-CEO of Matrix Bancorp,
Inc., commented:  "We are very pleased that the Texas Supreme Court has
reversed the lower court rulings against Sterling Trust and remanded the case
to the trial court for further proceedings.  We remain optimistic that Sterling
Trust will prevail on the merits before the trial court."

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release that are not historical
facts, including, but not limited to, statements that can be identified by the
use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "expect," "anticipate,"
"predict," "believe," "plan," "estimate" or "continue" "remain optimistic" or
the negative thereof or other variations thereon or comparable terminology, are
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and involve a number of risks and uncertainties.
 The actual results of the future events described in such forward-looking
statements in this press release could differ materially from those stated in
such forward-looking statements.  Among the factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially are: third party claims or actions in relation to
ongoing or future litigation or bankruptcy matters; level of delinquencies;
defaults and prepayments; government regulation; unanticipated developments in
connection with the bankruptcy actions or litigation mentioned above, including
judicial variation from existing legal precedent and the decision by one or
more parties to appeal decisions rendered; the risks and uncertainties
discussed set forth from time to time in the Company's periodic reports,
filings and other public statements.

Matrix Bancorp is a unitary thrift holding company headquartered in Denver,
Colorado.  Its subsidiaries' operations are conducted primarily in Colorado,
Texas and Tennessee. 

DATASOURCE: Matrix Bancorp, Inc.



CONTACT:  David W. Kloos, Chief Financial Officer of Matrix Bancorp,

Inc., [phone]

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