Nicholas B. Binkley, a founding partner of the private equity firm Forrest Binkley & Brown, has joined the board of directors of UnionBanCal Corporation (NYSE:UB) and its principal subsidiary, Union Bank of California, N.A. Binkley was elected at the February 28th board meeting.

Binkley, 61, has been with Forrest Binkley & Brown since it was formed in July 1993. The firm, located in Newport Beach with offices in San Diego, serves as managing general partner of various funds whose principal limited partners are the Sid and Lee Bass interests of Ft. Worth, Texas.

Earlier, Binkley served as a vice chairman of Security Pacific Corporation where he was responsible for all non-banking subsidiaries. He was also a member of its board of directors. Following the merger of BankAmerica Corporation and Security Pacific, he became vice chairman and a member of the board of directors of BankAmerica.

Binkley began his career in 1973 with Chase Manhattan Bank in New York and also worked for the bank in London, England, and in Beirut, Lebanon. He joined Security Pacific in 1977. In 1983, he moved to Security Pacific Financial Systems as Deputy Administrator for domestic non-banking subsidiaries, which included Security Pacific Venture Capital where he served on the investment committee.

A native of Pasadena, California, Binkley received his bachelor's degree in political science from Colorado College in Colorado Springs, and a master's degree in international studies from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. He spent a year in Aix-en-Provence at the Universite d'Aix-Marseille studying French and international law, then served two years in the Peace Corps in Tunisia.

Binkley was the founding chair and a member of the International Advisory Board of The University of California's Graduate School of International Relations and Pacific Studies in San Diego from 1986 to 2006. He has served on the Advisory Council of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies since 2003. He is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Binkley has served on a number of boards of directors of both public and privately-held companies and foundations.

Based in San Francisco, UnionBanCal Corporation (NYSE:UB) is a bank holding company with assets of $52.6 billion at December 31, 2006. Its principal subsidiary, Union Bank of California, N.A., had 321 banking offices in California, Oregon and Washington, and 2 international offices at December 31, 2006. The company's Web site is located at www.unionbank.com.