Valley National Bancorp (a New Jersey corporation) 4,600,000 Shares 6.25% Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A UNDERWRITING AGREEMENT

SANDLER O’NEILL + PARTNERS, L.P.

KEEFE, BRUYETTE & WOODS, INC.

RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, LLC

as Representatives of the several Underwriters

787 Seventh Avenue

4^th Floor

New York, New York 10019

RBC Capital Markets, LLC

Three World Financial Center

200 Vesey Street

New York, NY 10281-8098

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Valley National Bancorp, a New Jersey corporation (the “Company”) confirms its agreement with Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P. (“Sandler”), Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc. (“KBW”) and RBC Capital Markets, LLC (“RBC”) and each of the other Underwriters named in Schedule A hereto (collectively, the “Underwriters”, which term shall also include any underwriter substituted as hereinafter provided in Section 10 hereof), for whom Sandler, KBW and RBC are acting as representatives (in such capacity, the “Representatives”), with respect to the issue and sale by the Company, and the purchase by the Underwriters, acting severally and not jointly, of the respective numbers of shares of the Company’s 6.25% Fixed-to-Floating Rate Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred Stock, Series A set forth on Schedule A (the “Securities”).

The Company understands that the Underwriters propose to make a public offering of the Securities as soon as the Representatives deem advisable after this Agreement has been executed and delivered. Securities issued in book-entry form shall be issued to Cede & Co. as nominee of The Depository Trust Company (“DTC”) pursuant to a blanket issuer letter of representations, dated May 24, 2010 (the “DTC Agreement”), between the Company and DTC.

The Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) an automatically effective shelf registration statement on Form S-3ASR (No. 333-202916), covering the registration of the sale of certain securities, including the Securities, under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “1933 Act”), from time to time in accordance with Rule 415 of the rules and regulations of the Commission under the 1933 Act (the “1933 Act Regulations”). Such registration statement became effective upon filing with the Commission and the Company has filed such post-effective amendments thereto as may be required prior to the execution of this Agreement and each such post-effective amendment is effective under the 1933 Act. Promptly after execution and delivery of this

Agreement, the Company will prepare and file a prospectus supplement in accordance with the provisions of Rule 430B (“Rule 430B”) of the 1933 Act Regulations and paragraph (b) of Rule 424 (“Rule 424(b)”) of the 1933 Act Regulations. Any information included in such prospectus supplement that was omitted from such registration statement at the time it became effective but that is deemed to be part of such registration statement at the time it became effective pursuant to Rule 430B is referred to as “Rule 430B Information.” Each base prospectus and prospectus supplement used in connection with the offering of the Securities that omitted Rule 430B Information is referred to herein collectively as a “preliminary prospectus.” Such registration statement, at any given time, including any amendments thereto, including post-effective amendments, to such time, the exhibits and any schedules thereto at such time, the documents incorporated by reference therein at such time and the documents otherwise deemed to be a part thereof or included therein by the 1933 Act Regulations, is referred to herein as the “Registration Statement;” provided, however, that the term “Registration Statement” without reference to a time means such registration statement as of the time of the first contract of sale for the Securities, which time shall be considered the “new effective date” of such registration statement with respect to the Underwriters and the Securities (within the meaning of Rule 430B(f)(2)); provided, further, that any registration statement filed pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the 1933 Act is referred to herein as the “Rule 462(b) Registration Statement”, and after such filing the term “Registration Statement” shall include the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement. The final base prospectus and the prospectus supplement, dated the date hereof, including the documents incorporated by reference therein, are referred to herein collectively as the “Prospectus.” For purposes of this Agreement, all references to the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus, the Prospectus or any Term Sheet or any amendment or supplement to any of the foregoing shall be deemed to include the copy filed with the Commission pursuant to its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis and Retrieval system (“EDGAR”).

All references in this Agreement to financial statements and schedules and other information which is “contained,” “included” or “stated” in the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus, the Prospectus or the General Disclosure Package (as defined herein) (or other references of like import) shall be deemed to include all such financial statements and schedules and other information which is incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus, the Prospectus or the General Disclosure Package, as the case may be, prior to the execution of this Agreement; and all references in this Agreement to amendments or supplements to the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus, the Prospectus or the General Disclosure Package shall be deemed to include the filing of any document under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”), which is incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, such preliminary prospectus, the Prospectus or the General Disclosure Package, as the case may be, after the execution of this Agreement.

SECTION 1. Representations and Warranties and Agreements.

(a) Representations and Warranties by the Company. The Company represents and warrants to each Underwriter as of the date hereof, at the Applicable Time (as defined herein) and as of the Closing Time referred to in Section 2(b) hereof, and agrees with each Underwriter, as follows:

(i) Compliance with Registration Requirements. (A) (i) At the time of filing the Registration Statement, (ii) at the time of the most recent amendment thereto for the purposes of complying with Section 10(a)(3) of the 1933 Act (whether such amendment was by post-effective amendment, incorporated report filed pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the 1934 Act or form of prospectus), and (iii) at the time the Company or any person acting on its behalf (within the meaning, for this clause only, of Rule 163(c) under the 1933 Act) made any offer relating to the Securities in reliance on the exemption of Rule 163 under the 1933 Act, the Company was a “well-known seasoned issuer” as defined in Rule 405 under the 1933 Act, (B) at the earliest time thereafter that the Company or another offering participant made a bona fide offer (within the meaning of Rule 164(h)(2) of the 1933 Act Regulations) of the Securities, and (C) at the date hereof, the Company was not an “ineligible issuer” as defined in Rule 405 of the 1933 Act Regulations (“Rule 405”). The Company meets the requirements for use of Form S-3 under the 1933 Act. Each of the Registration Statement and any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement has become effective under the 1933 Act and no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto or any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement and any post-effective amendment thereto, each under the 1933 Act, has been issued and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or are pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, are contemplated by the Commission, and any request on the part of the Commission for additional information has been complied with.

At the respective times the Registration Statement, any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement and any post-effective amendments thereto became effective, at the Closing Time the Registration Statement, the Rule 462(b) Registration Statement and any amendments and supplements thereto complied, complies and will comply in all material respects with the requirements of the 1933 Act and the 1933 Act Regulations and did not, does not and will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading; provided, however, that the Company makes no representations or warranties as to that part of the Registration Statement which shall constitute the Statement of Eligibility and Qualification (Form T-1) under the Trust Indenture Act of 1939. Neither the Prospectus nor any amendments or supplements thereto, at the time the Prospectus or any such amendment or supplement was issued, at the Closing Time included, includes or will include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted, omits or will omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

Each preliminary prospectus and the Prospectus, complied when so filed in all material respects with the 1933 Act and the 1933 Act Regulations and each preliminary prospectus and the Prospectus delivered to the Underwriters for use in connection with this offering was identical to the electronically transmitted copies thereof filed with the Commission pursuant to EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T.

As of the Applicable Time (as defined below), the Final Term Sheet (as defined below), the Issuer-Represented General Free Writing Prospectus (as defined below) issued at or prior to the Applicable Time (as defined below) and the Statutory Prospectus (as defined below), all considered together (collectively, the “General Disclosure Package”), does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading.

As used in this subsection and elsewhere in this Agreement:

“Applicable Time” means 4:30 p.m. (Eastern time) on the date of this Agreement or such other time as agreed by the Company and the Representatives.

“Final Term Sheet” means the final term sheet in the form set forth on Schedule B hereto, reflecting the final terms of the Securities.

“Statutory Prospectus” as of any time means the base prospectus relating to the Securities that is included in the Registration Statement immediately prior to that time and the preliminary prospectus supplement relating to the Securities deemed to be a part thereof, including any document incorporated by reference therein. For purposes of this definition, information contained in a form of prospectus that is deemed retroactively to be a part of the Registration Statement pursuant to Rule 430B shall be considered to be included in the Statutory Prospectus as of the actual time that form of prospectus is filed with the Commission pursuant to Rule 424(b).

“Issuer-Represented Free Writing Prospectus” means any “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433 of the 1933 Act Regulations (“Rule 433”), relating to the Securities that (i) is required to be filed with the Commission by the Company, (ii) is a “road show that is a written communication” within the meaning of Rule 433(d)(8)(i), whether or not required to be filed with the Commission or (iii) is exempt from filing pursuant to Rule 433(d)(5)(i) because it contains a description of the Securities or of the offering that does not reflect the final terms, in each case in the form filed or required to be filed with the Commission or, if not required to be filed, in the form retained in the Company’s records pursuant to Rule 433(g), or the Final Term Sheet.

“Issuer-Represented General Free Writing Prospectus” means any Issuer-Represented Free Writing Prospectus that is intended for general distribution to prospective investors, as evidenced by its being specified in Schedule C hereto.

Each Issuer-Represented Free Writing Prospectus, as of its issue date and at all subsequent times through the completion of the public offer and sale of the Securities or until any earlier date that the issuer notified or notifies the Representatives as described in the next sentence, did not, does not and will not include any information that conflicted, conflicts or will conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, any preliminary

prospectus, the Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus, including any document incorporated by reference therein and any preliminary or other prospectus deemed to be a part thereof that has not been superseded or modified, in any material respect.

The representations and warranties in this subsection shall not apply to statements in or omissions from the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus, the Prospectus or any Issuer-Represented Free Writing Prospectus made in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use therein.

(ii) Incorporated Documents. The documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, at the time they were or hereafter are filed with the Commission, complied and will comply in all material respects with the requirements of the 1934 Act and the rules and regulations of the Commission thereunder (the “1934 Act Regulations”) and, when read together with the other information in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, at the time the Registration Statement became effective, or any amendment thereto became effective, at the Applicable Time, at the Closing Time did not and will not contain an untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading.

(iii) Independent Accountants. KPMG LLP, the accounting firm that certified the financial statements and supporting schedules of the Company included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, is an independent registered public accounting firm as required by the 1933 Act and the 1933 Act Regulations. With respect to the Company, KPMG LLP is not and has not been in violation of the auditor independence requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (“Sarbanes-Oxley Act”) and the related rules and regulations of the Commission.

(iv) Financial Statements. The financial statements included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, together with the related schedules and notes, present fairly the financial position of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries at the dates indicated and the statement of operations, stockholders’ equity and cash flows of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries for the periods specified; said financial statements have been prepared in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) applied on a consistent basis throughout the periods involved. The supporting schedules, if any, included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus present fairly in accordance with GAAP the information required to be stated therein. The selected financial data and the summary financial information included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus present fairly the information shown therein and have been compiled on a basis consistent with that of the audited financial statements included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. No other financial statements or schedules are required to be included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus. To the extent applicable, all disclosures contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus regarding “non-GAAP financial measures” (as such term is defined by the rules and regulations of the Commission) comply with Regulation G of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“1934 Act”), the rules and regulations of the 1934 Act (the “1934 Act Regulations”) and Item 10 of Regulation S-K under the 1933 Act, as applicable. The interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language included in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus fairly presents the required information and has been prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto.

(v) No Material Adverse Change in Business. Since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, except as otherwise stated therein, (A) there has been no material adverse change in the condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, business affairs or business prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business (a “Material Adverse Effect”), (B) there have been no liabilities or obligations incurred, direct or contingent, nor transactions entered into by the Company or any of its subsidiaries, other than those in the ordinary course of business, which are material with respect to the Company and its subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, and (C) except for regular quarterly dividends on the common stock of the

Company in amounts per share that are consistent with past practice, there has been no dividend or distribution of any kind declared, paid or made by the Company on any class or series of its capital stock.

(vi) Good Standing of the Company. The Company has been duly organized and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the State of New Jersey and has all requisite power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to conduct its business as described in the Registration Statement, General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and to enter into and perform its obligations under, and to consummate the transactions contemplated in, this Agreement. The Company is duly qualified as a foreign corporation to transact business and is in good standing in each other jurisdiction in which such qualification is required, whether by reason of the ownership or leasing of property or the conduct of business, except where the failure so to qualify or to be in good standing would not result in a Material Adverse Effect. The Company is duly registered as a bank holding company under the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956, as amended.

(vii) Good Standing of Significant Subsidiaries. Each “significant subsidiary” of the Company (as such term is defined in Rule 1-02 of Regulation S-X) listed on Schedule D hereto (each a “Significant Subsidiary” and, collectively, the “Significant Subsidiaries”) has been duly organized and is validly existing as a corporation in good standing under the laws of the jurisdiction of its incorporation, has corporate power and authority to own, lease and operate its properties and to conduct its business as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and is duly qualified as a foreign corporation to transact business and is in good standing in each jurisdiction in which such qualification is required, whether by reason of the ownership or leasing of property or the conduct of business, except where the failure so to qualify or to be in good standing would not result in a Material Adverse Effect. Except as otherwise disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, all of the issued and outstanding shares of capital stock or other equity interests in each Significant Subsidiary have been duly authorized and validly issued, are fully paid and non-assessable and are owned by the Company, directly or through subsidiaries, free and clear of any security interest, mortgage, pledge, lien, encumbrance or claim; none of the outstanding shares of capital stock of, or other equity interests in, any Significant Subsidiary were issued in violation of the preemptive or similar rights of any securityholder of such Significant Subsidiary or any other entity. The only Significant Subsidiaries of the Company are the subsidiaries listed on Schedule D hereto. Valley National Bank (the “Bank”) is a national banking association chartered under the laws of the United States and its charter is in full force and effect. The deposit accounts of the Bank are insured up to the applicable limits by the Deposit Insurance Fund of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (the “FDIC”) to the fullest extent permitted by law and the rules and regulations of the FDIC, and no proceeding for the revocation or termination of such insurance is pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, is threatened or contemplated.

(viii) Regulatory Matters. Except as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is subject or is party to, or has received any notice or advice that any of them may become subject or party to any investigation with respect to, any corrective, suspension or cease-and-desist order, agreement, consent agreement, memorandum of understanding or other regulatory enforcement action, proceeding or order with or by, or is a party to any commitment letter or similar undertaking to, or is subject to any directive by, or has been a recipient of any supervisory letter from, or has adopted any board resolutions at the request of, any Regulatory Agency (as defined below) that currently relates to or restricts in any material respect the conduct of their business or that in any manner relates to their capital adequacy, credit policies, management or business (each, a “Regulatory Agreement”), nor has the Company or any of its subsidiaries been advised by any Regulatory Agency that it is considering issuing or requesting any Regulatory Agreement. There is no unresolved violation, criticism or exception by any Regulatory Agency with respect to any report or statement relating to any examinations of the Company or any of its subsidiaries. The Company and its subsidiaries are in compliance in all material respects with all laws administered by the Regulatory Agencies. As used herein, the term “Regulatory Agency” means any federal or state agency charged with the supervision or regulation of depositary institutions or holding companies of depositary institutions, or engaged in the insurance of depositary institution deposits, or any court, administrative agency or commission or other authority, body or agency having supervisory or regulatory authority with respect to the Company or any of its subsidiaries.

(ix) Authorization of Agreement. This Agreement has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and, when duly executed and delivered in accordance with its terms by each of the parties thereto, will constitute a valid and legally binding agreement of the Company enforceable against the Company in accordance with its terms.

(x) Authorization of the Securities. The Securities to be purchased by the Underwriters from the Company have been duly authorized for issuance and sale to the Underwriters pursuant to this Agreement and, when issued and delivered to and paid for by the Representatives at the Closing Time, will be validly issued, fully paid and non-assessable, no holder of the Securities will be subject to personal liability by reason of being such a holder, and such shares will be issued in compliance with federal and state securities laws and will be free of statutory and contractual preemptive rights, rights of first refusal and similar rights.

(xi) Description of the Securities. The Securities will conform in all material respects to the respective statements relating thereto contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and will be in substantially the form filed or incorporated by reference, as the case may be, as exhibits to the Registration Statement.

(xii) Absence of Violations, Defaults and Conflicts. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is (A) in violation of its charter, by-laws or similar organizational document, (B) in default in the performance or observance of any obligation, agreement, covenant or condition contained in any contract, indenture, mortgage, deed of trust, loan or credit agreement, note, lease or other agreement or instrument to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or by which it or any of them may be bound or to which any of the properties, assets or operations of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is subject (collectively, “Agreements and Instruments”), except for such defaults that would not, singly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect, or (C) in violation of any law, statute, rule, regulation, judgment, order, writ or decree of any arbitrator, court, governmental body, regulatory body, administrative agency (including, without limitation, each applicable Regulatory Agency) or other authority, body or agency having jurisdiction over the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any of their respective properties, assets or operations (each, a “Governmental Entity”), except for such violations that would not, singly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect. The execution, delivery and performance of this Agreement and the consummation of the transactions contemplated in this Agreement and in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, including the issuance and sale of Securities by the Company in the offering contemplated hereby, and compliance by the Company with its obligations hereunder have been duly authorized by the Company by all requisite action and do not and will not, whether with or without the giving of notice or passage of time or both, conflict with or constitute a breach of, or default or Repayment Event (as defined below) under, or result in the creation or imposition of any lien, charge or encumbrance upon any properties, assets or operations of the Company or any of its subsidiaries pursuant to, the Agreements and Instruments (except for such conflicts, breaches, defaults or Repayment Events or liens, charges or encumbrances that would not, singly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect), nor will such action result in any violation of the provisions of the charter, by-laws or similar organizational document of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or any law, statute, rule, regulation, judgment, order, writ or decree of any Governmental Entity. As used herein, a “Repayment Event” means any event or condition which gives the holder of any note, debenture or other financing instrument (or any person acting on such holder’s behalf) the right to require the repurchase, redemption or repayment of all or a portion of the related financing by the Company or any of its subsidiaries.

(xiii) Absence of Labor Dispute. No labor dispute with the employees of the Company or any of its subsidiaries exists or, to the knowledge of the Company, is imminent, which, in either case, would, singularly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(xiv) Absence of Proceedings. There is no action, suit, proceeding, inquiry or investigation before or brought by any court or governmental agency or body, domestic or foreign, now pending, or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened, against or affecting the Company or any subsidiary, which is required to be disclosed in the Registration Statement (other than as disclosed therein), or which might, singularly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect, or which might materially and adversely affect the consummation of the transactions contemplated in this Agreement or the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder. The aggregate of all pending legal or governmental proceedings to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries is a party or of which

any of their respective property, assets or operations is the subject which are not described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus including ordinary routine litigation incidental to the business, could not reasonably be expected, singularly or in the aggregate, to result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(xv) Accuracy of Contracts; Exhibits. All descriptions in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus of contracts and other documents to which the Company or any of its subsidiaries are a party are accurate in all material respects. There are no contracts, instruments or other documents which are required to be described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or to be filed as exhibits thereto which have not been so described and filed as required.

(xvi) Possession and Protection of Intellectual Property. The Company and its subsidiaries own, possess or can acquire on reasonable terms sufficient trademarks, trade names, patent rights, copyrights, domain names, licenses, approvals, trade secrets, inventions, technology, know-how and other intellectual property and similar rights, including registrations and applications for registration thereof (collectively, “Intellectual Property Rights”) necessary or material to the conduct of the business now conducted or proposed in the Registration Statement, General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus to be conducted by them, and the expected expiration of any such Intellectual Property Rights would not, singularly or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus (i) there is no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by the Company against a third party for any material infringement, misappropriation, breach, default or other violation, or the occurrence of any event that with notice or the passage of time would constitute any of the foregoing, by such a third party of the Intellectual Property Rights of the Company or any of its subsidiaries; (ii) there are no rights of third parties to any of the Intellectual Property Rights owned by the Company or its subsidiaries; (iii) there is no material infringement, misappropriation, breach, default or other violation, or the occurrence of any event that with notice or the passage of time would constitute any of the foregoing, by the Company, its subsidiaries or third parties of any of the Intellectual Property Rights of the Company or its subsidiaries; (iv) there is no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the Company’s or any subsidiary’s rights in or to, or the violation of any of the terms of, any of their Intellectual Property Rights, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such claim; (v) there is no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others challenging the validity, enforceability or scope of any such Intellectual Property Rights, and the Company is unaware of any facts which would form a reasonable basis for any such claim; (vi) there is no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened action, suit, proceeding or claim by others that the Company or any subsidiary infringes, misappropriates or otherwise violates or conflicts with any Intellectual Property Rights or other proprietary rights of others and the Company is unaware of any other fact which would form a reasonable basis for any such claim; and (vii) none of the Intellectual Property Rights used by the Company or its subsidiaries in their businesses has been obtained or is being used by the Company or its subsidiaries in violation of any contractual obligation binding on the Company, any of its subsidiaries in violation of the rights of any persons, except in each case covered by clauses (ii) through (vii) such as would not, if determined adversely to the Company or any of its subsidiaries, singularly or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect.

(xvii) Absence of Further Requirements. No filing with, or authorization, approval, consent, license, order, registration, qualification or decree of, any court or governmental authority or agency, other than those that have been made or obtained, is necessary or required for the performance by the Company of its obligations hereunder, in connection with the offering, issuance or sale of the Securities hereunder or the consummation of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement, except as may be required under (i) the securities or “Blue Sky” laws of any U.S. state or non-U.S. jurisdictions, (ii) the rules and regulations of the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) or (iii) other non-U.S. laws applicable to the purchase of the Securities outside the U.S.

(xviii) Possession of Licenses and Permits. The Company and its subsidiaries possess such permits, licenses, approvals, consents and other authorizations (collectively, “Governmental Licenses”) issued by the appropriate federal, state, local or foreign regulatory agencies or bodies (including, without limitation, all regulations and orders of, or agreements with, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) necessary to conduct the business now operated by them, except where the failure so to possess would not, singularly or in the aggregate, result in a

Material Adverse Effect; the Company and its subsidiaries are in compliance with the terms and conditions of all such Governmental Licenses, except where the failure so to comply would not, singly or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect; all of the Governmental Licenses are valid and in full force and effect, except where the invalidity of such Governmental Licenses or the failure of such Governmental Licenses to be in full force and effect would not have a Material Adverse Effect; and neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has received any notice of proceedings relating to the revocation or modification of any such Governmental Licenses which, singularly or in the aggregate, if the subject of an unfavorable decision, ruling or finding, would result in a Material Adverse Effect. Neither the Company nor any of its Significant Subsidiaries has failed to file with applicable regulatory authorities any statement, report, information or form required by any applicable law, regulation or order, except where the failure to be so in compliance would not, singularly or in the aggregate, have a Material Adverse Effect, all such filings were in material compliance with applicable laws when filed and no material deficiencies have been asserted by any regulatory commission, agency or authority with respect to any such filings or submissions.

(xix) Title to Property. The Company and its subsidiaries have good and marketable title to all real property owned by the Company and its subsidiaries and good title to all other properties owned by them, in each case, free and clear of all mortgages, pledges, liens, security interests, claims, restrictions or encumbrances of any kind except such as (a) are described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or (b) do not, singly or in the aggregate, materially affect the value of such property and do not interfere with the use made and proposed to be made of such property by the Company or any of its subsidiaries; and all of the leases and subleases material to the business of the Company and its subsidiaries, considered as one enterprise, and under which the Company or any of its subsidiaries holds properties described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, are in full force and effect, and neither the Company nor any subsidiary has any notice of any material claim of any sort that has been asserted by anyone adverse to the rights of the Company or any of its subsidiaries under any of the leases or subleases mentioned above, or affecting or questioning the rights of the Company or any subsidiary thereof to the continued possession of the leased or subleased premises under any such lease or sublease.

(xx) Investment Company Act. The Company is not, and upon the issuance and sale of the Securities as herein contemplated and the application of the net proceeds therefrom as described in the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus will not be, an “investment company” or an entity “controlled” by an “investment company” as such terms are defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.

(xxi) Environmental Laws. Except as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus or as would not, singly or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect, (A) neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is in violation of any federal, state, local or foreign statute, law, rule, regulation, ordinance, code, policy or rule of common law or any judicial or administrative interpretation thereof, including any judicial or administrative order, consent, decree or judgment, relating to pollution or protection of human health, the environment (including, without limitation, ambient air, surface water, groundwater, land surface or subsurface strata) or wildlife, including, without limitation, laws and regulations relating to the release or threatened release of chemicals, pollutants, contaminants, wastes, toxic substances, hazardous substances, petroleum or petroleum products, asbestos-containing materials or mold (collectively, “Hazardous Materials”) or to the manufacture, processing, distribution, use, treatment, storage, disposal, transport or handling of Hazardous Materials (collectively, “Environmental Laws”), (B) the Company and its subsidiaries have all permits, authorizations and approvals required under any applicable Environmental Laws and are each in material compliance with their requirements, (C) there are no pending or, to the knowledge of the Company, threatened administrative, regulatory or judicial actions, suits, demands, demand letters, claims, liens, notices of noncompliance or violation, investigation or proceedings relating to any Environmental Law against the Company or any of its subsidiaries and (D) there are no events or circumstances that might reasonably be expected to form the basis of an order for clean-up or remediation, or an action, suit or proceeding by any private party or governmental body or agency, against or affecting the Company or any of its subsidiaries relating to Hazardous Materials or any Environmental Laws.

(xxii) Taxes. All income tax returns of the Company and its subsidiaries required by applicable U.S. federal, state or material local law to be filed have been filed and all taxes shown by such returns or otherwise assessed, which are due and payable, have been paid, except assessments against which appeals have been or will be

promptly taken and as to which adequate reserves have been provided. The Company and its subsidiaries have filed all other tax returns that are required to have been filed by them pursuant to applicable foreign, state or material local law except insofar as the failure to file such returns would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect, and has paid all taxes due pursuant to such returns or pursuant to any assessment received by the Company and its subsidiaries, except for such taxes, if any, as are being contested in good faith and as to which adequate reserves have been provided. The charges, accruals and reserves on the books of the Company in respect of any income and corporation tax liability for any years not finally determined are adequate to meet any assessments or re-assessments for additional income tax for any years not finally determined, except to the extent of any inadequacy that would not, individually or in the aggregate, result in a Material Adverse Effect.

(xxiii) Insurance. The Company and its subsidiaries carry or are entitled to the benefits of, insurance, with financially sound and reputable insurers, in such amounts and covering such risks as is generally maintained by companies of established repute engaged in the same or similar business, and all such insurance is in full force and effect. The Company has no reason to believe that it or any subsidiary will not be able (A) to renew its existing insurance coverage as and when such policies expire or (B) to obtain comparable coverage from similar institutions as may be necessary or appropriate to conduct its business as now conducted and at a cost that would not result in a Material Adverse Effect. Neither of the Company nor any subsidiary has been denied any insurance coverage which it has sought or for which it has applied.

(xxiv) Statistical and Market Data. The statistical and market related data contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus are based on or derived from sources which the Company believes are reliable and accurate and, to the extent required, the Company has obtained the written consent for the use of such data from such sources.

(xxv) Prohibition on Dividends. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, no subsidiary of the Company is currently prohibited, directly or indirectly, under any order of any Regulatory Agency (other than orders applicable to bank or savings and loan holding companies and their subsidiaries generally), under any applicable law, or under any agreement or other instrument to which it is a party or is subject, from paying any dividends to the Company, from making any other distribution on such subsidiary’s capital stock, from repaying to the Company or any other subsidiary of the Company any loans or advances to such subsidiary or from transferring any of such subsidiary’s properties, assets or operations to the Company or any other subsidiary of the Company.

(xxvi) Bankruptcy of Subsidiaries. The Company has no knowledge of any facts or circumstances which lead it to believe that it or any of its subsidiaries will be required to file for reorganization or liquidation under the bankruptcy or reorganization laws of any jurisdiction, and has no present intent to so file.

(xxvii) NYSE. The Company has applied to list the Securities on the NYSE.

(xxviii) Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. The Company and each of its subsidiaries maintains a system of internal accounting controls sufficient to provide reasonable assurance that (A) transactions are executed in accordance with management’s general or specific authorizations; (B) transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP and to maintain accountability for assets; (C) access to assets is permitted only in accordance with management’s general or specific authorization; (D) the recorded accountability for assets is compared with the existing assets at reasonable intervals and appropriate action is taken with respect to any differences; and (E) the interactive data in eXtensible Business Reporting Language incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus fairly presents the required information and is prepared in accordance with the Commission’s rules and guidelines applicable thereto. Except as described in the Registration Statement, General Disclosure Package and Prospectus, since the end of the Company’s most recent audited fiscal year, there has been (I) no material weakness in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting (whether or not remediated) and (II) no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.

(xxix) Disclosure Controls and Procedures. The Company and its subsidiaries maintain an effective system of disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15 and Rule 15d-15 of the 1934 Act), that (A) are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by the Company in the reports that it files or submits under the 1934 Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms and that material information relating to the Company and its subsidiaries is made known to the Company’s principal executive officer and principal financial officer by others within the Company and its subsidiaries to allow timely decisions regarding disclosure, and (B) are effective in all material respects to perform the functions for which they were established. Based on the evaluation of the Company’s and each subsidiary’s disclosure controls and procedures described above, the Company is not aware of (1) any significant deficiency in the design or operation of internal controls which could adversely affect the Company’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial data or any material weaknesses in internal controls or (2) any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the Company’s internal controls. Since the most recent evaluation of the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures described above, there have been no significant changes in internal controls or in other factors that could significantly affect internal controls.

(xxx) Compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. There is and has been no failure on the part of the Company or any of the Company’s directors or officers, in their capacities as such, to comply in all material respects with any provision of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the rules and regulations promulgated in connection therewith, including Section 402 related to loans and Sections 302 and 906 related to certifications.

(xxxi) Pending Procedures and Examinations. The Registration Statement is not the subject of a pending proceeding or examination under Section 8(d) or 8(e) of the 1933 Act, and the Company is not the subject of a pending proceeding under Section 8A of the 1933 Act in connection with the offering of the Securities.

(xxxii) Anti-bribery Laws. Neither the Company, its subsidiaries nor, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is aware of or has taken any action, directly or indirectly, that would result in a violation by such persons of any anti-bribery laws, including but not limited to (i) any law, rule, or regulation promulgated to implement the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions, signed December 17, 1997 (the “Convention”), (ii) the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder (the “FCPA”) and (iii) any other law, rule or regulation of any locality of similar purpose and scope, including, without limitation, making use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce corruptly in furtherance of an offer, payment, promise to pay or authorization of the payment of any money, or other property, gift, promise to give, or authorization of the giving of anything of value to any “foreign official” (as such term is defined in the FCPA) or any foreign political party or official thereof or any candidate for foreign political office, in contravention of the Convention, the FCPA and similar laws, rules or regulations and the Company, its subsidiaries and affiliates have conducted their businesses in compliance with the Convention, the FCPA and similar laws, rules or regulations and have instituted and maintain policies and procedures designed to ensure, and which are reasonably expected to continue to ensure, continued compliance therewith.

(xxxiii) Money Laundering Laws. Each of the Company, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, and to the best knowledge of the Company, any of their respective officers, directors, supervisors, managers, agents, or employees, has not violated, and its participation in the offering will not violate, any anti-money laundering laws, including but not limited to, applicable federal, state, international, foreign or other laws, regulations or government guidance regarding anti-money laundering, including, without limitation, Title 18 U.S. Code section 1956 and 1957, the Patriot Act, the Bank Secrecy Act, and international anti-money laundering principals or procedures by any intergovernmental group or organization, such as the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, of which the United States is a member and with which designation the United States representative to the group or organization continues to concur, all as amended, and any Executive order, directive, or regulation pursuant to the authority of any of the foregoing, or any orders or licenses issued thereunder, and no action, suit or proceeding by or before any court or governmental agency, authority or body or any arbitrator involving the Company with respect to such anti-money laundering laws is pending or, to the best knowledge of the Company, threatened. Each of the

Company, its subsidiaries and its affiliates has instituted and maintains policies and procedures designed to ensure continued compliance with anti-money laundering laws.

(xxxiv) OFAC. None of the Company, any of its subsidiaries or, to the knowledge of the Company, any director, officer, agent, employee, affiliate or other person acting on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries is (A) an individual or entity currently the subject or target of any sanctions administered or enforced by the United States Government, including, without limitation, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, Her Majesty’s Treasury, or other relevant sanctions authority (collectively, “Sanctions”) or (B) located, organized or resident in a country or territory that is the subject of Sanctions. The Company will not directly or indirectly use the proceeds of the offering, or lend, contribute or otherwise make available such proceeds to any subsidiary, joint venture partner or other person or entity, for the purpose of financing the activities of any person currently subject to any sanctions administered by OFAC.

(xxxv) No Registration Rights. No person has the right to require the Company or any of its subsidiaries to register any securities for sale under the 1933 Act by reason of the filing of the Registration Statement with the Commission or the issuance and sale of the Securities to be sold by the Company hereunder.

(xxxvi) No Stabilization or Manipulation. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries, nor any affiliates of the Company or its subsidiaries, has taken, directly or indirectly, any action designed to or that could reasonably be expected to cause or result in any stabilization or manipulation of the price of the Securities.

(xxxvii) No Unauthorized Use of Prospectus. The Company has not distributed and, prior to the later to occur of (i) the Closing Time and (ii) completion of the distribution of the Securities, will not distribute any prospectus (as such term is defined in the 1933 Act and the 1933 Act Regulations) in connection with the offering and sale of the Securities other than the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus, the General Disclosure Package, the Prospectus or other materials, if any, permitted by the 1933 Act or by the 1933 Act Regulations and approved by the Representatives.

(xxxviii) Relationships. No relationship, direct or indirect, exists between or among the Company or any of its subsidiaries, on the one hand, and the directors, officers, shareholders, customers or suppliers of the Company or any of its subsidiaries, on the other hand, that is required by the 1933 Act or the regulations thereof to be described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus and that is not so described.

(xxxix) Transactions. Except as disclosed in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries is a party to a binding letter of intent, term sheet or similar instrument or any binding agreement that contemplates an acquisition, disposition, transfer or sale of the assets (as a going concern) or capital stock of the Company or of any subsidiary or business unit or any similar business combination transaction which would be material to the Company and its subsidiaries taken as a whole.

(xl) Authorization of Corporate Transaction Agreement. The Agreement and Plan of Merger with CNLBancshares, Inc., dated as of May 26, 2015 (the “CNLBancshares Agreement”), has been duly authorized, executed and delivered by the Company and constitutes a valid and legally binding agreement of the Company, enforceable in accordance with its terms, except as may be limited by bankruptcy, insolvency, reorganization, moratorium or other similar laws relating to or affecting creditors’ rights generally or by general equitable principles.

(xli) Prior Issuances. Except as described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the Company has not sold, issued or distributed any shares of preferred stock or debt securities during the six-month period preceding the date hereof.

(xlii) Capitalization. The authorized and outstanding capitalization of the Company is as set forth in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, subject, in each case, to the issuance of shares of common stock upon exercise of stock options and warrants, and upon settlement of restricted stock units,

disclosed as outstanding in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, the issuance of the Securities, the issuance of the Company’s 4.55% subordinated debentures due June 30, 2025, the issuance of shares of common stock pursuant to the CNLBancshares Agreement, the issuance of shares of common stock pursuant to the Company’s Dividend Reinvestment Plan and the grant of options, restricted stock and other equity-based incentive awards under existing stock plans described in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus. The authorized capital stock of the Company conforms and will conform in all material respects as to legal matters to the description thereof contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

(xliii) Fees. Other than as contemplated by this Agreement, there is no broker, finder or other party that is entitled to receive from the Company or any subsidiary any brokerage or finder’s fee or any other fee, commission or payment as a result of the transactions contemplated by this Agreement.

(xliv) ERISA. The Company and each of the subsidiaries or their “ERISA Affiliates” (as defined below) are in compliance in all material respects with all presently applicable provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, including the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (“ERISA”); no “reportable event” (as defined in ERISA) has occurred with respect to any “employee benefit plan” (as defined in ERISA) for which the Company or any of the subsidiaries or ERISA Affiliates would have any material liability; the Company and each of the subsidiaries or their ERISA Affiliates have not incurred and do not expect to incur any material liability under (i) Title IV of ERISA with respect to termination of, or withdrawal from, any “employee benefit plan” or (ii) Sections 412, 4971, 4975 or 4980B of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the regulations and published interpretations thereunder (collectively the “Code”); and each “employee benefit plan” for which the Company and each of its Subsidiaries or any of their ERISA Affiliates would have any material liability that is intended to be qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code is so qualified in all material respects and nothing has occurred, whether by action or by failure to act, which would cause the loss of such qualification. “ERISA Affiliate” means, with respect to the Company or a subsidiary, any member of any group of organizations described in Sections 414(b), (c), (m) or (o) of the Code or Section 400(b) of ERISA of which the Company or such subsidiary is a member.

(xlv) Contracts. There are no contracts, agreements or understandings between the Company and any person granting such person the right to require the Company to file a registration statement under the 1933 Act with respect to any securities of the Company or to require the Company to include such securities with the Securities registered pursuant to the Registration Statement. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries has sent or received any communication regarding termination of, or intent not to renew, any of the contracts or agreements referred to or described in the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, or referred to or described in, or filed as an exhibit to, the Registration Statement, and no such termination or non-renewal has been threatened by the Company or any of its subsidiaries or, to the Company’s knowledge, any other party to any such contract or agreement.

(xlvi) FINRA. In accordance with the FINRA Rule 5110(b)(7)(C)(i), the Securities have been offered pursuant to the standards for such Form S-3 in effect prior to October 21, 1992.

(b) Officer’s Certificates. Any certificate signed by any officer of the Company or any of its subsidiaries delivered to the Representatives or to counsel for the Underwriters shall be deemed a representation and warranty by the Company to each Underwriter as to the matters covered thereby.

SECTION 2. Sale and Delivery to Underwriters; Closing.

(a) Securities. On the basis of the representations and warranties herein contained and subject to the terms and conditions herein set forth, the Company agrees to sell to each Underwriter and each Underwriter, severally and not jointly, agrees to purchase from the Company, the number of shares of Securities set forth in Schedule A opposite the name of such Underwriter, plus any shares of Securities which such Underwriter may become obligated to purchase pursuant to the provisions of Section 10 hereof.

The price of the Securities purchased by the Underwriters and sold to retail investors shall be $24.2125 per share and the price of the Securities purchased by the Underwriters and sold to institutional investors shall be $24.75 per share.

(b) Payment. Delivery of the Securities shall be made at the offices of Hogan Lovells US LLP, 555 Thirteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20004, or at such other place as shall be agreed upon by the Representatives and the Company, at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern time) on June 19, 2015 (unless postponed in accordance with the provisions of Section 10), or such other time not later than ten business days after such date as shall be agreed upon by the Representatives and the Company (such time and date of payment and delivery being herein called the “Closing Time”).

Payment shall be made to the Company by wire transfer of immediately available funds to a bank account designated by the Company, against delivery to the Representatives for the respective accounts of the Underwriters of the Securities to be purchased by them. It is understood that each Underwriter has authorized the Representatives, for its account, to accept delivery of, receipt for, and make payment of the purchase price for, the Securities which it has agreed to purchase.

Sandler, KBW and RBC, each individually and not as representatives of the Underwriters, may (but shall not be obligated to) make payment of the purchase price for the Securities to be purchased by any Underwriter whose funds have not been received by the Closing Time, but such payment shall not relieve such Underwriter from its obligations hereunder.

(c) Denominations; DTC. The Securities shall be in such denominations and registered in such names as the Representatives may request in writing at least one full business day before the Closing Time. The Company shall deliver the Securities through the facilities of DTC unless the Representatives shall otherwise instruct.

SECTION 3. Covenants of the Company. The Company covenants with each Underwriter as follows:

(a) Compliance with Securities Regulations and Commission Requests. The Company, subject to Section 3(b), will comply with the requirements of Rule 430B and will notify the Representatives immediately, and confirm the notice in writing, (i) when any post-effective amendment to the Registration Statement shall become effective, or any supplement to the Prospectus or any amended Prospectus shall have been filed, (ii) of the receipt of any comments from the Commission, (iii) of any request by the Commission for any amendment to the Registration Statement or any amendment or supplement to the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or for additional information, (iv) of the issuance by the Commission of any stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement or of any order preventing or suspending the use of any preliminary prospectus, the Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus, or of the suspension of the qualification of the Securities for offering or sale in any jurisdiction, or of the initiation or threatening of any proceedings for any of such purposes or of any examination pursuant to Section 8(e) of the 1933 Act concerning the Registration Statement and (v) if the Company becomes the subject of a proceeding under Section 8A of the 1933 Act in connection with the offering of the Securities. The Company will promptly effect the filings necessary pursuant to Rule 424(b) in the manner and within the time period required by Rule 424(b) (without reliance on Rule 424(b)(8)) and will take such steps as it deems necessary to ascertain promptly whether the form of prospectus transmitted for filing under Rule 424(b) was received for filing by the Commission and, in the event that it was not, it will promptly file such prospectus. The Company will make every reasonable effort to prevent the issuance of any stop order and, if any stop order is issued, to obtain the lifting thereof at the earliest possible moment.

(b) Filing of Amendments. The Company will give the Representatives notice of its intention to file or prepare any amendment to the Registration Statement (including any filing under Rule 462(b)), any Term Sheet or any amendment, supplement or revision to the General Disclosure Package or to the Prospectus or any new registration statement, whether pursuant to the 1933 Act, the 1934 Act or otherwise, will furnish the Representatives with copies of any such documents a reasonable amount of time prior to such proposed filing or use, as the case may be, and will not file or use any such document to which the Representatives or counsel for the Underwriters shall object.

(c) Delivery of Registration Statements. The Company has furnished or will deliver to the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters at their request, without charge, signed copies of the Registration Statement as originally filed and of each amendment thereto (including exhibits filed therewith or incorporated by reference therein and documents incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference therein) and signed copies of all consents and certificates of experts, and will also deliver to the Representatives, without charge, a conformed copy

of the Registration Statement as originally filed and of each amendment thereto (without exhibits) for each of the Underwriters. The copies of the Registration Statement and each amendment thereto furnished to the Underwriters will be identical to the electronically transmitted copies thereof filed with the Commission pursuant to EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T.

(d) Delivery of Prospectuses. The Company has delivered to each Underwriter, without charge, as many copies of each preliminary prospectus as such Underwriter reasonably requested, and the Company hereby consents to the use of such copies for purposes permitted by the 1933 Act. The Company will furnish to each Underwriter, without charge, during the period when the Prospectus is required to be delivered under the 1933 Act or the 1934 Act, such number of copies of the Prospectus (as amended or supplemented) as such Underwriter may reasonably request. The preliminary prospectus and the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto furnished to the Underwriters will be identical to the electronically transmitted copies thereof filed with the Commission pursuant to EDGAR, except to the extent permitted by Regulation S-T.

(e) Continued Compliance with Securities Laws. The Company will comply with the 1933 Act, the 1933 Act Regulations, the 1934 Act and the 1934 Act Regulations so as to permit the completion of the distribution of the Securities as contemplated in this Agreement and in the Prospectus. If, at any time when a prospectus is required by the 1933 Act to be delivered in connection with sales of the Securities, any event or development occurs as a result of which the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus would include any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state any material fact necessary to make the statements therein (in the case of the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus, in light of the circumstances under which they were made) not misleading, or if it shall be necessary to amend the Registration Statement or amend or supplement the Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus to comply with the 1933 Act or the 1933 Act Regulations or to file a new registration statement relating to the Securities, the Company will promptly notify the Representatives of any such event or development and promptly prepare and file with the Commission, subject to Section 3(b), such amendment, supplement or new registration statement which will correct such untrue statement or omission, effect such compliance or satisfy such filing requirement, use its best efforts to have any such amendment to the Registration Statement or new registration statement declared effective as soon as possible (if not an automatic shelf registration statement) and the Company will furnish to the Underwriters such number of copies of such amendment or supplement as the Underwriters may reasonably request. If at any time following the issuance of an Issuer-Represented Free Writing Prospectus there occurred or occurs an event or development as a result of which such Issuer-Represented Free Writing Prospectus conflicted or would conflict with the information contained in the Registration Statement, any preliminary prospectus, the Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus or included, includes or would include an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted, omits or would omit to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances prevailing at that subsequent time, not misleading, the Company will promptly notify the Underwriters and will promptly amend or supplement, at its own expense, such Issuer-Represented Free Writing Prospectus to eliminate or correct such conflict, untrue statement or omission. The Underwriters’ delivery of any such amendment or supplement shall not constitute a waiver of any of the conditions of Section 5 hereof.

(f) Blue Sky Qualifications. The Company will use its best efforts, in cooperation with the Underwriters, to qualify the Securities for offering and sale under the applicable securities laws of such states and other jurisdictions as the Representatives may designate and to maintain such qualifications in effect for a period of not less than one year from the later of the effective date of the Registration Statement and any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement; provided, however, that the Company shall not be obligated to file any general consent to service of process or to qualify as a foreign corporation or as a dealer in securities in any jurisdiction in which it is not so qualified or to subject itself to taxation in respect of doing business in any jurisdiction in which it is not otherwise so subject. In each jurisdiction in which the Securities have been so qualified, the Company will file such statements and reports as may be required by the laws of such jurisdiction to continue such qualification in effect for a period of not less than one year from the effective date of the Registration Statement and any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement. The Company will also supply the Underwriters with such information as is necessary for the determination of the legality of the Securities for investment under the laws of such jurisdiction as the Underwriters may request.

(g) Rule 158. The Company will timely file such reports pursuant to the 1934 Act as are necessary in order to make generally available to its securityholders as soon as practicable an earnings statement for the purposes of, and to provide to the Underwriters the benefits contemplated by, the last paragraph of Section 11(a) of the 1933 Act.

(h) Use of Proceeds. The Company will use the net proceeds received by it from the sale of the Securities in the manner specified in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

(i) Restriction on Sale of Securities. During the period beginning on the date hereof and continuing to and including the Closing Time, the Company will not, and will not permit any subsidiary to, without the prior written consent of the Representatives, directly or indirectly, issue, sell, offer or contract to sell, grant any option for the sale of, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, any debt securities or nonconvertible preferred stock, including any guarantee of such securities, or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for or representing the right to receive such securities of the Company or any of its subsidiaries. The foregoing shall not apply to the Securities to be sold hereunder or the issuance and sale by the Company of its 4.55% subordinated debentures due June 30, 2025.

(j) Stabilization or Manipulation. The Company will not take, directly or indirectly, any action designed to cause or result in, or that has constituted or might reasonably be expected to constitute, the stabilization or manipulation of the price of any securities of the Company.

(k) Reporting Requirements. The Company, during the period when a prospectus relating to the Securities is (or, but for the exception afforded by Rule 172, would be) required by the 1933 Act to be delivered in connection with sales of the Securities, will file all documents required to be filed with the Commission pursuant to the 1934 Act within the time periods required by, and each such document will meet in all material respects the requirements of, the 1934 Act and the 1934 Act Regulations.

(l) Final Term Sheet /Issuer Free Writing Prospectus. The Company will prepare the Final Term Sheet in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives and the Company represents and agrees that, unless it obtains the prior consent of the Representatives and each Underwriter, it has not made and will not make any offer relating to the Securities that would constitute an “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433, or that would otherwise constitute a “free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 405, required to be filed with the Commission. Any such free writing prospectus consented to by the Representatives and the Company is hereinafter referred to as a “Permitted Free Writing Prospectuses.” The Company represents that it has treated or agrees that it will treat each Permitted Free Writing Prospectus as an “issuer free writing prospectus,” as defined in Rule 433, and has complied and will comply with the requirements of Rule 433 applicable to any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus, including timely filing with the Commission where required, legending and record keeping. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Company consents to the use by any Underwriter of a free writing prospectus that contains only (a)(i) information describing the preliminary terms of the Securities or their offering, (ii) information meeting the requirements of Rule 134 of the 1933 Act Regulations or (iii) information that describes the final terms of the Securities or their offering and that is included in the Final Term Sheet or (b) other customary information that is neither “issuer information,” as defined in Rule 433, nor otherwise an Issuer-Represented Free Writing Prospectus.

(m) DTC. The Company shall use its reasonable best efforts to permit the Securities to be eligible for clearance, settlement and trading in book-entry-only form through the facilities of DTC.

(n) NYSE. The Company will file an application for listing with the NYSE concerning the issuance of the Securities prior to the Closing Time and will use its reasonable best efforts to list the Securities on the NYSE within 30 days of the Closing Time.

(o) Transfer Agent. The Company shall maintain a registrar and transfer agent for the Securities.

SECTION 4. Payment of Expenses.

(a) Expenses. The Company will pay or cause to be paid all expenses incident to the performance of their obligations under this Agreement, including (i) the preparation, printing and filing of the Registration Statement (including financial statements and exhibits) as originally filed and of each amendment thereto, (ii) the preparation, printing and delivery to the Underwriters of this Agreement, any Agreement among Underwriters and such other

documents as may be required in connection with the offering, purchase, sale, issuance or delivery of the Securities, (iii) the preparation, issuance and delivery of the certificates for the Securities to the Underwriters, including any stock or other transfer taxes and any stamp or other duties payable upon the sale, issuance or delivery of the Securities to the Underwriters, (iv) the fees and disbursements of the Company’s counsel, accountants and other advisors, (v) the fees and disbursements of counsel to the Underwriters including, without limitation, fees and disbursements incurred in the qualification of the Securities under securities laws in accordance with the provisions of Section 3(f) hereof and in connection with the preparation of the Blue Sky Survey and any supplement thereto (which legal fees and disbursements shall not exceed $100,000), (vi) the printing and delivery to the Underwriters of copies of each preliminary prospectus, any Permitted Free Writing Prospectus and of the Prospectus and any amendments or supplements thereto (including any costs associated with electronic delivery of these materials), (vii) the fees and expenses of any transfer agent or registrar for the Securities, (viii) the costs and expenses of the Company relating to investor presentations on any “road show” undertaken in connection with the marketing of the Securities, including without limitation, expenses associated with the production of road show slides and graphics, fees and expenses of any consultants engaged in connection with the road show presentations, travel and lodging expenses of the representatives and officers of the Company and any such consultants, and the cost of aircraft and other transportation chartered in connection with the road show, (ix) any fees payable in connection with the rating of the Securities, and (x) the fees and expenses incurred in connection with having the Securities eligible for clearance, settlement and trading through the facilities of DTC.

(b) Termination of Agreement. If this Agreement is terminated by the Representatives in accordance with the provisions of Section 5 or Section 9(a) hereof, the Company shall reimburse the Underwriters for all of their out-of-pocket expenses, including the reasonable fees and disbursements of counsel for the Underwriters which shall not exceed $100,000.

SECTION 5. Conditions of Underwriters’ Obligations. The obligations of the several Underwriters hereunder are subject to the accuracy of the representations and warranties of the Company contained in Section 1 hereof or in certificates of any officer of the Company or any subsidiary of the Company delivered pursuant to the provisions hereof, to the performance by the Company of its covenants and other obligations hereunder, and to the following further conditions:

(a) Effectiveness of Registration Statement. (i) The Registration Statement, including any Rule 462(b) Registration Statement, has become effective and at the Closing Time, no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement shall have been issued under the 1933 Act or proceedings therefor initiated or threatened by the Commission, and any request on the part of the Commission for additional information shall have been complied with to the reasonable satisfaction of counsel to the Underwriters, (ii) each of the preliminary prospectus, the Statutory Prospectus and the Prospectus shall have been filed with the Commission in the manner and within the time period required by Rule 424(b) (without reliance on Rule 424(b)(8)) (or a post-effective amendment providing such information shall have been filed and declared effective in accordance with the requirements of Rule 430B), and no order preventing or suspending the use of any preliminary prospectus, the Statutory Prospectus or the Prospectus shall have been issued by the Commission or any other Governmental Entity, (iii) the Final Term Sheet and any other material required to be filed by the Company pursuant to Rule 433(d) under the 1933 Act shall have been filed with the Commission within the applicable time periods prescribed in such filings by Rule 433 and (iv) there shall not have come to the Representatives’ attention any facts that would cause the Representatives to believe that the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, at the time it was, or was required to be, delivered or made available to purchasers of the Securities, included an untrue statement of a material fact or omitted to state a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in light of the circumstances existing at the time, not misleading.

(b) Opinion of Counsel for Company. At the Closing Time, the Representatives shall have received the opinion, dated as of the Closing Time, of Day Pitney LLP, counsel for the Company, in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Underwriters, together with signed or reproduced copies of such letters for each of the other Underwriters to the effect set forth in Exhibit A hereto and to such further effect as counsel to the Underwriters may reasonably request, each in form and substance satisfactory to counsel for the Underwriters, together with signed or reproduced copies of such letters for each of the other Underwriters.

(c) Opinion of Counsel for Underwriters. At the Closing Time, the Representatives shall have received the opinion, dated as of the Closing Time, of Hogan Lovells US LLP, counsel for the Underwriters, together with signed or reproduced copies of such letters for each of the other Underwriters, with respect to such matters as the Representatives may require. In giving such opinion, such counsel may rely, as to all matters governed by the laws of jurisdictions other than the law of the State of New York and the federal securities laws of the United States, upon the opinions of counsel satisfactory to the Representatives. Such counsel may also state that, insofar as such opinion involves factual matters, they have relied, to the extent they deem proper, upon certificates of officers and other representatives of the Company and its subsidiaries and certificates of public officials.

(d) Officers’ Certificates. At the Closing Time, there shall not have been, since the date hereof or since the respective dates as of which information is given in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, any material adverse change in the condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, business affairs or business prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, and the Representatives shall have received a certificate of the President or a Vice President of the Company and of the chief financial or chief accounting officer of the Company, dated as of the Closing Time, to the effect that (i) there has been no such material adverse change, (ii) the representations and warranties in Section 1(a) hereof are true and correct with the same force and effect as though expressly made at and as of the Closing Time, (iii) the Company has complied with all agreements and satisfied all conditions on its part to be performed or satisfied at or prior to the Closing Time, (iv) no stop order suspending the effectiveness of the Registration Statement has been issued and no proceedings for that purpose have been instituted or are pending or are to their knowledge contemplated by the Commission, and (v) no event of default under that certain Indenture, dated as of September 27, 2013, between the Company and The Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, N.A., as trustee, as supplemented by a First Supplemental Indenture entered into by the Company and the trustee on September 27, 2013 with respect to the Company’s 5.125% Subordinated Debentures due September 27, 2023, or default with notice and/or lapse of time that would be an event of default has occurred and is continuing.

(e) Accountant’s Comfort Letter. At the time of the execution of this Agreement, the Representatives shall have received from KPMG LLP a letter dated such date, in form and substance satisfactory to the Representatives, together with signed or reproduced copies of such letter for each of the other Underwriters containing statements and information of the type ordinarily included in accountants’ “comfort letters” to underwriters with respect to the financial statements and certain financial information contained in the Registration Statement, the General Disclosure Package and the Prospectus.

(f) Bring-down Comfort Letter. At the Closing Time, the Representatives shall have received from KPMG LLP a letter, dated as of the Closing Time, to the effect that they reaffirm the statements made in the letter furnished pursuant to subsection (e) of this Section, except that the specified date referred to shall be a date not more than three business days prior to the Closing Time.

(g) Maintenance of Rating. Since the execution of this Agreement, there shall not have been any decrease in or withdrawal of the rating of any securities of the Company or any of its subsidiaries by any “nationally recognized statistical rating organization” (as defined for purposes of Section 3(a)(62) of the 1934 Act) or any notice given of any intended or potential decrease in or withdrawal of any such rating or of a possible change in any such rating that does not indicate the direction of the possible change.

(h) Clearance, Settlement and Trading. At the Closing Time, the Securities shall be eligible for clearance, settlement and trading in book-entry-only form through the facilities of DTC.

(i) Delivery of General Disclosure Package and Prospectus. The Company shall have furnished to the Underwriters the General Disclosure Package prior to the Applicable Time and the Prospectus on the New York business day next succeeding the date of this Agreement.

(j) No Termination Event. On or after the date hereof, there shall not have occurred any of the events, circumstances or occurrences set forth in Section 9(a).

(k) Additional Documents. At the Closing Time, counsel for the Underwriters shall have been furnished with such documents and opinions as they may reasonably require for the purpose of enabling them to pass upon the

issuance and sale of the Securities as herein contemplated, or in order to evidence the accuracy of any of the representations or warranties, or the fulfillment of any of the conditions, herein contained; and all proceedings taken by the Company in connection with the issuance and sale of the Securities as herein contemplated shall be satisfactory in form and substance to the Representatives and counsel for the Underwriters.

(l) Termination of Agreement. If any condition specified in this Section shall not have been fulfilled when and as required to be fulfilled, this Agreement may be terminated by the Representatives by notice to the Company at any time at or prior to the Closing Time and such termination shall be without liability of any party to any other party except as provided in Section 4 and except that Sections 1, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and the last sentence of 16 shall survive any such termination and remain in full force and effect.

(m) Listing. The Securities shall have been registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the 1934 Act and the Company shall have applied to list the Securities on the NYSE, and the Company shall have taken no action designed to, or likely to have the effect of, terminating the registration of the Securities under the 1934 Act or terminating the application to list the Securities on the NYSE, and the Company shall have not received any notification that the Commission or the NYSE is contemplating terminating such registration or listing application, as applicable.

SECTION 6. Indemnification.

(a) Indemnification of Underwriters. The Company agrees to indemnify and hold harmless each Underwriter, its affiliates (as such term is defined in rule 501(b) under the 1933 Act) (“Affiliates”), its partners and selling agents, and each person, if any, who controls any Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act as follows:

(i) against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense whatsoever, as incurred, arising out of any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact contained in the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereto), including the Rule 430B Information, or the omission or alleged omission therefrom of a material fact required to be stated therein or necessary to make the statements therein not misleading or arising out of any untrue statement or alleged untrue statement of a material fact included (A) in any preliminary prospectus, any Issuer-Represented Free Writing Prospectus, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto) or (B) in any materials or information provided to investors by, or with the approval of, the Company in connection with the marketing of the offering of the Securities (“Marketing Materials”), including any roadshow or investor presentations made to investors by the Company (whether in person or electronically), or the omission or alleged omission in any preliminary prospectus, any Issuer-Represented Free Writing Prospectus, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto) or in any Marketing Materials of a material fact necessary in order to make the statements therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, not misleading;

(ii) against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense whatsoever, as incurred, to the extent of the aggregate amount paid in settlement of any litigation, or any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or threatened, or of any claim whatsoever based upon any such untrue statement or omission, or any such alleged untrue statement or omission; provided that (subject to Section 6(d) below) any such settlement is effected with the written consent of the Company; and

(iii) against any and all expense whatsoever, as incurred (including the fees and disbursements of counsel chosen by the Representatives), reasonably incurred in investigating, preparing or defending against any litigation, or any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or threatened, or any claim whatsoever based upon any such untrue statement or omission, or any such alleged untrue statement or omission, to the extent that any such expense is not paid under (i) or (ii) above;

provided, however, that this indemnity agreement shall not apply to any loss, liability, claim, damage or expense to the extent arising out of any untrue statement or omission or alleged untrue statement or omission made in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by any Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use in the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereto), including the Rule

430B Information or any preliminary prospectus, the Statutory Prospectus, any Issuer-Represented Free Writing Prospectus, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto).

(b) Indemnification of Company, Directors and Officers. Each Underwriter severally and not jointly agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its directors, each of its officers who signed the Registration Statement, and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act against any and all loss, liability, claim, damage and expense described in the indemnity contained in subsection (a) of this Section, as incurred, but only with respect to untrue statements or omissions, or alleged untrue statements or omissions, made in the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereto), including the Rule 430B Information or any preliminary prospectus, the Statutory Prospectus, any Issuer-Represented Free Writing Prospectus, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto) in reliance upon and in conformity with written information furnished to the Company by such Underwriter through the Representatives expressly for use in the Registration Statement (or any amendment thereto) or such preliminary prospectus, the Statutory Prospectus, any Issuer-Represented Free Writing Prospectus, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus (or any amendment or supplement thereto).

(c) Actions against Parties; Notification. Each indemnified party shall give notice as promptly as reasonably practicable to each indemnifying party of any action commenced against it in respect of which indemnity may be sought hereunder, but failure to so notify an indemnifying party shall not relieve such indemnifying party from any liability hereunder to the extent it is not materially prejudiced as a result thereof and in any event shall not relieve it from any liability which it may have otherwise than on account of this indemnity agreement. In the case of parties indemnified pursuant to Section 6(a) above, counsel to the indemnified parties shall be selected by the Representatives, and, in the case of parties indemnified pursuant to Section 6(b) above, counsel to the indemnified parties shall be selected by the Company. An indemnifying party may participate at its own expense in the defense of any such action; provided, however, that counsel to the indemnifying party shall not (except with the consent of the indemnified party) also be counsel to the indemnified party. In no event shall the indemnifying parties be liable for fees and expenses of more than one counsel (in addition to any local counsel) separate from their own counsel for all indemnified parties in connection with any one action or separate but similar or related actions in the same jurisdiction arising out of the same general allegations or circumstances. No indemnifying party shall, without the prior written consent of the indemnified parties, settle or compromise or consent to the entry of any judgment with respect to any litigation, or any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or threatened, or any claim whatsoever in respect of which indemnification or contribution could be sought under this Section 6 or Section 7 hereof (whether or not the indemnified parties are actual or potential parties thereto), unless such settlement, compromise or consent (i) includes an unconditional release of each indemnified party from all liability arising out of such litigation, investigation, proceeding or claim and (ii) does not include a statement as to or an admission of fault, culpability or a failure to act by or on behalf of any indemnified party.

(d) Settlement Without Consent if Failure to Reimburse. If at any time an indemnified party shall have requested an indemnifying party to reimburse the indemnified party for fees and expenses of counsel, such indemnifying party agrees that it shall be liable for any settlement of the nature contemplated by Section 6(a) (ii) effected without its written consent if (i) such settlement is entered into more than 45 days after receipt by such indemnifying party of the aforesaid request, (ii) such indemnifying party shall have received notice of the terms of such settlement at least 30 days prior to such settlement being entered into and (iii) such indemnifying party shall not have reimbursed such indemnified party in accordance with such request prior to the date of such settlement.

SECTION 7. Contribution. If the indemnification provided for in Section 6 hereof is for any reason unavailable to or insufficient to hold harmless an indemnified party in respect of any losses, liabilities, claims, damages or expenses referred to therein, then each indemnifying party shall contribute to the aggregate amount of such losses, liabilities, claims, damages and expenses incurred by such indemnified party, as incurred, (i) in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect the relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other hand from the offering of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement or (ii) if the allocation provided by clause (i) is not permitted by applicable law, in such proportion as is appropriate to reflect not only the relative benefits referred to in clause (i) above but also the relative fault of the Company on the one hand and of the Underwriters on the other hand in connection with the statements or omissions which resulted in such losses, liabilities, claims, damages or expenses, as well as any other relevant equitable considerations.

The relative benefits received by the Company on the one hand and the Underwriters on the other hand in connection with the offering of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement shall be deemed to be in the same respective proportions as the total net proceeds from the offering of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement (before deducting expenses) received by the Company, on the one hand, and the total underwriting discount and commissions received by the Underwriters, on the other hand, bear to the total price to the public of the Securities, in each case as set forth on the cover of the Prospectus.

The relative fault of the Company, on the one hand, and the Underwriters, on the other hand, shall be determined by reference to, among other things, whether any such untrue or alleged untrue statement of a material fact or omission or alleged omission to state a material fact relates to information supplied by the Company or by the Underwriters and the parties’ relative intent, knowledge, access to information and opportunity to correct or prevent such statement or omission.

The Company and the Underwriters agree that it would not be just and equitable if contribution pursuant to this Section 7 were determined by pro rata allocation (even if the Underwriters were treated as one entity for such purpose) or by any other method of allocation which does not take account of the equitable considerations referred to above in this Section 7. The aggregate amount of losses, liabilities, claims, damages and expenses incurred by an indemnified party and referred to above in this Section 7 shall be deemed to include any legal or other expenses reasonably incurred by such indemnified party in investigating, preparing or defending against any litigation, or any investigation or proceeding by any governmental agency or body, commenced or threatened, or any claim whatsoever based upon any such untrue or alleged untrue statement or omission or alleged omission.

Notwithstanding the provisions of this Section 7, no Underwriter shall be required to contribute any amount in excess of the total discounts, fees and commissions received by such Underwriter in connection with the Securities underwritten by it and distributed to the public.

No person guilty of fraudulent misrepresentation (within the meaning of Section 11(f) of the 1933 Act) shall be entitled to contribution from any person who was not guilty of such fraudulent misrepresentation.

For purposes of this Section 7, each person, if any, who controls an Underwriter within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act and each Underwriter’s Affiliates, partners and selling agents shall have the same rights to contribution as such Underwriter, and each director of the Company, each officer of the Company who signed the Registration Statement, and each person, if any, who controls the Company within the meaning of Section 15 of the 1933 Act or Section 20 of the 1934 Act shall have the same rights to contribution as the Company. The Underwriters’ respective obligations to contribute pursuant to this Section 7 are several in proportion to the number of Securities set forth opposite their respective names in Schedule A hereto and not joint.

SECTION 8. Representations, Warranties and Agreements to Survive Delivery. All representations, warranties and agreements contained in this Agreement or in certificates of officers of the Company or any of its subsidiaries submitted pursuant hereto, shall remain operative and in full force and effect, regardless of any (i) investigation made by or on behalf of any Underwriter or its Affiliates or selling agents, any person controlling any Underwriter, its officers or directors, or by or on behalf of the Company, and (ii) delivery of and payment for the Securities.

SECTION 9. Termination of Agreement.

(a) Termination; General. The Representatives may terminate this Agreement, by notice to the Company, at any time at or prior to the Closing Time (i) if there has been, since the time of execution of this Agreement or since the respective dates as of which information is given in the preliminary prospectus, the General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus, any material adverse change in the condition, financial or otherwise, or in the earnings, business affairs or business prospects of the Company and its subsidiaries considered as one enterprise, whether or not arising in the ordinary course of business, or (ii) if there has occurred any material adverse change in the financial markets in the United States, any outbreak of hostilities or escalation thereof or other calamity or crisis or any change or development involving a prospective change in national or international political, financial or economic conditions, including without limitation as a result of terrorist activities, in each case the effect of which is such as to make it, in the judgment of the Representatives, impracticable or inadvisable to market the Securities or to enforce contracts for

the sale of the Securities, or (iii) if trading in any securities of the Company has been suspended or materially limited by the Commission or the NYSE, or if trading generally on NYSE MKT LLC or the NYSE or in the Nasdaq Global Market has been suspended or materially limited, or minimum or maximum prices for trading have been fixed, or maximum ranges for prices have been required, by any of said exchanges or by such system or by order of the Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. or any other governmental authority, or (iv) a material disruption has occurred in commercial banking or securities settlement or clearance services in the United States or with respect to Clearstream or Euroclear Systems in Europe, or (v) if a banking moratorium has been declared by either Federal or New York authorities.

(b) Liabilities. If this Agreement is terminated pursuant to this Section, such termination shall be without liability of any party to any other party except as provided in Section 4 hereof, and provided further that Sections 1, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and the last sentence of 16 shall survive such termination and remain in full force and effect.

SECTION 10. Default by One or More of the Underwriters. If one or more of the Underwriters shall fail at the Closing Time to purchase the Securities which it or they are obligated to purchase under this Agreement (the “Defaulted Securities”), the Representatives shall have the right, within 24 hours thereafter, to make arrangements for one or more of the non-defaulting Underwriters, or any other underwriters, to purchase all, but not less than all, of the Defaulted Securities in such amounts as may be agreed upon and upon the terms herein set forth; if, however, the Representatives shall not have completed such arrangements within such 24-hour period, then:

(a) if the number of Defaulted Securities does not exceed 10% of the total number of the Securities to be purchased at the Closing Time, each of the non-defaulting Underwriters shall be obligated, severally and not jointly, to purchase the full amount thereof in the proportions that their respective underwriting obligations hereunder bear to the underwriting obligations of all non-defaulting Underwriters, or

(b) if the number of Defaulted Securities exceeds 10% of the total number of the Securities to be purchased at the Closing Time, this Agreement shall terminate without liability on the part of any non-defaulting Underwriter.

No action taken pursuant to this Section shall relieve any defaulting Underwriter from liability in respect of its default.

In the event of any such default which does not result in a termination of this Agreement either (i) the Representatives or (ii) the Company shall have the right to postpone the Closing Time for a period not exceeding seven days in order to effect any required changes in the Registration Statement, General Disclosure Package or the Prospectus or in any other documents or arrangements. As used herein, the term “Underwriter” includes any person substituted for an Underwriter under this Section 10.

SECTION 11. Notices. All notices and other communications hereunder shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given if mailed or transmitted by any standard form of telecommunication. Notices to the Underwriters shall be directed to the Representatives in the case of Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P., at 1251Avenue of the Americas, 6^th Floor, New York, New York 10020, in the case of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc., at 787 Seventh Avenue, 4^th Floor, New York, New York 10019, attention of Capital Markets, and in the case of RBC Capital Markets, LLC, at Three World Financial Center, 200 Vesey Street, 8^th Floor, New York, New York 10281-8098, attention: DCM Transaction Management, with copies, which shall not constitute notice, to Hogan Lovells US LLP, 555 Thirteenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20004, attention of Daniel Keating, Esq.; notices to the Company shall be directed to it at Valley National Bancorp, 1455 Valley Road, Wayne, New Jersey 07470, attention of Alan D. Eskow, with copies, which shall not constitute notice, to Day Pitney LLP, 7 Times Square, New York, New York 10036, attention of Ronald H. Janis, Esq.

SECTION 12. Parties. This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon the Underwriters and the Company and their respective successors. Nothing expressed or mentioned in this Agreement is intended or shall be construed to give any person, firm or corporation, other than the Underwriters and the Company and their respective successors, Affiliates, partners, selling agents, controlling persons and officers and directors referred to in Sections 6 and 7 and their heirs and legal representatives, any legal or equitable right, remedy or claim under or in

respect of this Agreement or any provision herein contained. This Agreement and all conditions and provisions hereof are intended to be for the sole and exclusive benefit of the Underwriters and the Company and their respective successors, and said Affiliates, partners, selling agents, controlling persons and officers and directors and their heirs and legal representatives, and for the benefit of no other person, firm or corporation. No purchaser of Securities from any Underwriter shall be deemed to be a successor by reason merely of such purchase.

SECTION 13. No Fiduciaries. The Company acknowledges and agrees that (i) the purchase and sale of the Securities pursuant to this Agreement, including the determination of the public offering price of the Securities and any related discounts and commissions, is an arm’s-length commercial transaction between the Company, on the one hand, and the several Underwriters, on the other hand, (ii) in connection with the offering contemplated hereby and the process leading to such transaction each Underwriter is and has been acting solely as a principal and is not the agent or fiduciary of the Company, or any of the Company’s shareholders, creditors, employees or any other third party, (iii) no Underwriter has assumed or will assume an advisory or fiduciary responsibility in favor of the Company with respect to the offering contemplated hereby or the process leading thereto (irrespective of whether such Underwriter has advised or is currently advising the Company on other matters) and no Underwriter has any obligation to the Company with respect to the offering contemplated hereby except the obligations expressly set forth in this Agreement, (iv) the Underwriters and their respective Affiliates may be engaged in a broad range of transactions that involve interests that differ from those of the Company, and (v) the Underwriters have not provided any legal, accounting, regulatory or tax advice with respect to the offering contemplated hereby and the Company has consulted its own legal, accounting, regulatory and tax advisors to the extent it deemed appropriate.

SECTION 14. GOVERNING LAW AND TIME. THIS AGREEMENT AND ANY CLAIM, CONTROVERSY OR DISPUTE ARISING UNDER OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT SHALL BE GOVERNED BY, AND CONSTRUED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAWS OF, THE STATE OF NEW YORK WITHOUT REGARD TO ITS CHOICE OF LAW PROVISIONS (OTHER THAN SECTION 5-1401 OF THE GENERAL OBLIGATIONS LAW OF NEW YORK). SPECIFIED TIMES OF DAY REFER TO NEW YORK CITY TIME.

SECTION 15. Consent to Jurisdiction. Each of the parties hereto agrees that any legal suit, action or proceeding arising out of or based upon this Agreement or the transactions contemplated hereby (“Related Proceedings”) shall be instituted in (i) the federal courts of the United States of America located in the City and County of New York, Borough of Manhattan or (ii) the courts of the State of New York located in the City and County of New York, Borough of Manhattan (collectively, the “Specified Courts”), and irrevocably submits to the exclusive jurisdiction (except for proceedings instituted in regard to the enforcement of a judgment of any Specified Court (a “Related Judgment”), as to which such jurisdiction is non-exclusive) of the Specified Courts in any such suit, action or proceeding. Service of any process, summons, notice or document by mail to such party’s address set forth above shall be effective service of process for any suit, action or proceeding brought in any Specified Court. Each of the parties hereto irrevocably and unconditionally waives any objection to the laying of venue of any suit, action or proceeding in the Specified Courts and irrevocably and unconditionally waive and agree not to plead or claim in any Specified Court that any such suit, action or proceeding brought in any Specified Court has been brought in an inconvenient forum.

SECTION 16. General Provisions. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement of the parties to this Agreement and supersedes all prior written or oral and all contemporaneous oral agreements, understandings and negotiations with respect to the subject matter hereof. This Agreement may be executed in two or more counterparts, each one of which shall be an original, but all of which together shall constitute one and the same instrument. The exchange of copies of this Agreement and of signature pages by facsimile or other electronic means shall constitute effective execution and delivery of this Agreement by the parties hereto and may be used in lieu of the original signature pages to this Agreement for all purposes. This Agreement may not be amended or modified unless in writing by all of the parties hereto, and no condition herein (express or implied) may be waived unless waived in writing by each party whom the condition is meant to benefit. The Article and Section headings herein are for convenience only and shall not affect the construction hereof.

If the foregoing is in accordance with your understanding of our agreement, please sign and return to the Company a counterpart hereof, whereupon this instrument, along with all counterparts, will become a valid and legally binding agreement between the Underwriters and the Company in accordance with its terms.

CONFIRMED AND ACCEPTED,

as of the date first above written:

SANDLER O’NEILL & PARTNERS, L.P.

For itself and as a Representative of the other Underwriters named in Schedule A hereto

KEEFE, BRUYETTE & WOODS, INC.

For itself and as a Representative of the other Underwriters named in Schedule A hereto

RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, LLC

For itself and as a Representative of the other Underwriters named in Schedule A hereto