PARAMUS, N.J., Dec. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. (NASDAQ:HCBK), the holding company for Hudson City Savings Bank, today announced that it has filed an automatic shelf registration statement on Form S-3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The shelf registration statement will allow the Company to issue and sell an indeterminate amount of common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, capital securities, guarantees, warrants, rights and units or any combination of these securities in one or more future offerings. The specific terms of any future offerings will be established by the Company at the time of the offering, subject to market conditions, and will be described in detail in a prospectus supplement filed at the time of any such offering. At this time the Company does not have any immediate plans or current commitments to sell securities under the shelf registration statement. Ronald E. Hermance, Jr., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer commented, "We filed a shelf registration statement to enable us to easily access the capital markets should an opportunistic transaction arise. We also believe that the banking regulators as well as the banking committees of the United States Congress will be calling for increased regulatory capital requirements. While we are currently considered to be well-capitalized with a Tier 1 leverage capital ratio of 7.7% and a total risk-based capital ratio of 21.3%, this shelf registration affords us greater flexibility to continue to execute our business model and to pursue opportunities that the current market turmoil may provide. The shelf registration statement permits us to act quickly to raise capital with maximum flexibility to offer and sell different types of equity, debt or other hybrid securities, depending on the company's needs and capital market conditions." This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities, nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to the registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state. Any offering of the securities covered by the registration statement will only be by means of a written prospectus and prospectus supplement. When available, copies of the prospectus and any prospectus supplement relating to a particular offering may be obtained by contacting Susan Munhall, Investor Relations, at Hudson City Bancorp, Inc., West 80 Century Road, Paramus, New Jersey 07652, phone number (201) 967-8290. Hudson City Bancorp maintains its corporate offices in Paramus, New Jersey. Hudson City Savings Bank, a well-established community financial institution serving its customers since 1868, is ranked in the top twenty-five U.S. financial institutions by asset size and is the largest thrift institution headquartered in New Jersey. Hudson City Savings currently operates a total of 131 branch offices in the New York metropolitan and surrounding areas. Forward-Looking Statements This release may contain certain "forward looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and may be identified by the use of such words as "may," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "should," "plan," "estimate," "predict," "continue," and "potential" or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. Examples of forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, estimates with respect to the financial condition, results of operations and business of Hudson City Bancorp. Any or all of the forward-looking statements in this release and in any other public statements made by Hudson City Bancorp may turn out to be wrong. They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions Hudson City Bancorp might make or by known or unknown risks and uncertainties. Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. Hudson City Bancorp does not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements after the date of this release or to conform these statements to actual events. DATASOURCE: Hudson City Bancorp, Inc. CONTACT: Susan Munhall, Investor Relations, Hudson City Bancorp, Inc., +1-201-967-8290,

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