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PALOS VERDES ESTATES, Calif.--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Malaga Financial Corporation (OTCBB:MLGF), the parent company of Malaga Bank FSB, today announced it has been ranked the top-performing thrift in the United States for the most recent 12-month period ending December 31, 2011 for the third consecutive year. SNL Financial ranked the 100 largest publicly traded thrifts according to six performance metrics, with standard deviations weighted and added together to calculate a performance score for each company. The higher the score, the better the final ranking with Malaga coming out #1 in the nation. For example, according to the six metrics a" return on average assets (ROAA); return on average tangible common equity (ROATCE); median three-year growth rate in tangible book value per share; efficiency ratio; non-performing loans and net charge-offs to average loans a" Malaga received a score of 144.60 which surpassed the #2 ranking thrift a" coming in at 134.61a" by 10 points!

"We are delighted to be recognized by SNL Financial as the top performing thrift in the nation for the third year in a row. We are thankful to our loyal customers, our shareholders and Board of Directors, and to our employees for their respective contributions to our success"

aWe are delighted to be recognized by SNL Financial as the top performing thrift in the nation for the third year in a row. We are thankful to our loyal customers, our shareholders and Board of Directors, and to our employees for their respective contributions to our success,a commented Randy C. Bowers, President and CEO.

Malaga Bank, a subsidiary of MFC, is a full-service community bank headquartered on the Palos Verdes Peninsula with five offices located in the South Bay area of Los Angeles. In its 27^th year, Malaga Bank has been delivering competitive banking services to residents and businesses of the South Bay, including real estate loan products custom-tailored to consumers and investors. As the largest community bank in the South Bay, Malaga is proud of its continuing tradition of relationship-based banking and legendary customer service. The Bankas web site is located at [ www.malagabank.com ].