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CINCINNATI, Dec. 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq: FITB) announced the following results from its Special Meeting of Shareholders held earlier today:

Proposal 1: Shareholders approved an amendment to the Bancorp Articles of Incorporation to revise the terms of the authorized unissued shares of Preferred Stock, without par value, available for issuance by Fifth Third Bancorp to allow for limited voting rights for a new series of Preferred Stock and proposed amendments to the Code of Regulations to revise the express terms related to the removal of directors and the filling of director vacancies as described in the proxy statement.

Proposal 2: Shareholders also approved an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation to revise the express terms of the issued and outstanding shares of Series G Preferred Stock to provide those shares with similar voting rights as proposed under Proposal 1.

Proposal 3, providing Fifth Third Bancorp with the ability to assign voting rights to future preferred shares, did not receive a sufficient majority to be approved. Proposal 4, which provided for the adjournment of the Special Meeting in the instance that insufficient votes were received to approve either Proposal 1 or 3, was approved but, given the approval of Proposal 1, was not necessary.

The approval of Proposal 1 was required for the closing of the United States Treasury's investment in Fifth Third Bancorp through the Capital Purchase Program under the Troubled Assets Relief Program. As previously announced, Fifth Third Bancorp received preliminary approval for the Treasury investment and this action clears the way for the closing of that investment. Fifth Third expects this closing to occur in the near future.

Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Company has $116 billion in assets, operates 18 affiliates with 1,308 full-service Banking Centers, including 92 Bank Mart(R) locations open seven days a week inside select grocery stores and 2,339 ATMs in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Georgia and North Carolina. Fifth Third operates five main businesses: Commercial Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending, Investment Advisors and Fifth Third Processing Solutions. Fifth Third is among the largest money managers in the Midwest and, as of September 30, 2008, has $196 billion in assets under care, of which it managed $30 billion for individuals, corporations and not-for-profit organizations. Investor information and press releases can be viewed at www.53.com . Fifth Third's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ(R) National Global Select Market under the symbol "FITB."

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This report may contain forward-looking statements about Fifth Third Bancorp within the meaning of Sections 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Rule 175 promulgated thereunder, and 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Rule 3b-6 promulgated thereunder, that involve inherent risks and uncertainties. This report may contain certain forward-looking statements with respect to the financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business of Fifth Third Bancorp including statements preceded by, followed by or that include the words or phrases such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "plans," "trend," "objective," "continue," "remain" or similar expressions or future or conditional verbs such as "will," "would," "should," "could," "might," "can," "may" or similar expressions. There are a number of important factors that could cause future results to differ materially from historical performance and these forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such a difference include, but are not limited to: (1) general economic conditions and weakening in the economy, specifically the real estate market, either national or in the states in which Fifth Third does business, are less favorable than expected; (2) deteriorating credit quality; (3) political developments, wars or other hostilities may disrupt or increase volatility in securities markets or other economic conditions; (4) changes in the interest rate environment reduce interest margins; (5) prepayment speeds, loan origination and sale volumes, charge-offs and loan loss provisions; (6) Fifth Third's ability to maintain required capital levels and adequate sources of funding and liquidity; (7) changes and trends in capital markets; (8) competitive pressures among depository institutions increase significantly; (9) effects of critical accounting policies and judgments; (10) changes in accounting policies or procedures as may be required by the Financial Accounting Standards Board or other regulatory agencies; (11) legislative or regulatory changes or actions, or significant litigation, adversely affect Fifth Third, or the businesses in which Fifth Third, one is engaged; (12) ability to maintain favorable ratings from rating agencies; (13) fluctuation of Fifth Third's stock price; (14) ability to attract and retain key personnel; (15) ability to receive dividends from its subsidiaries; (16) potentially dilutive effect of future acquisitions on current shareholders' ownership of Fifth Third; (17) effects of accounting or financial results of one or more acquired entities; (18) difficulties in combining the operations of acquired entities; (19) inability to generate the gains on sale and related increase in shareholders' equity that it anticipates from the sale of certain non-core businesses, (20) loss of income from the sale of certain non-core businesses could have an adverse effect on Fifth Third's earnings and future growth (21) ability to secure confidential information through the use of computer systems and telecommunications networks; (22) the impact of reputational risk created by these developments on such matters as business generation and retention, funding and liquidity; and (23) the Treasury providing satisfactory definitive documentation for its purchase of senior preferred shares and agreement on final terms and conditions. Additional information concerning factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements is available in the Bancorp's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Copies of this filing are available at no cost on the SEC's Web site at www.sec.gov or on the Fifth Third's Web site at www.53.com. Fifth Third undertakes no obligation to release revisions to these forward-looking statements or reflect events or circumstances after the date of this report.