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PROSPECTUS SUPPLEMENT

Popular North America, Inc.

Medium-Term Notes, Series F

    THE COMPANY: Popular North America, Inc. Our principal executive office is located at Popular Center, 209 Muñoz Rivera Avenue, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918, and our telephone number is (787) 765-9800.

    TERMS: We plan to offer and sell notes with various terms, including the following:

    The notes will be unconditionally guaranteed as to payment of principal, premium, if any, and interest by Popular, Inc. We will specify the final terms for each note, which may be different from the terms described in this prospectus supplement, in the applicable pricing supplement.

    Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus supplement, the accompanying prospectus or any pricing supplement is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

    The notes will be unsecured obligations of Popular North America, Inc. and the guarantor and will not be savings accounts, deposits or other obligations of any bank or nonbank subsidiary of Popular North America, Inc. or the guarantor and are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Bank Insurance Fund or any other government agency.

    We may sell notes to the agents referred to below as principal for resale at varying or fixed offering prices or through the agents as agent using their reasonable efforts on our behalf. We may also sell notes without the assistance of the agents, whether acting as principal or as agent.

    If we or Popular, Inc. or Popular International Bank, Inc. sells our securities referred to in the accompanying prospectus other than pursuant to this prospectus supplement, the aggregate initial offering price of notes that we may offer and sell under this prospectus supplement will be reduced.

The date of this Prospectus Supplement is June 23, 2004.

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Information in the Pricing Supplement

      Your pricing supplement will describe one or more of the following terms of your note:

      Your pricing supplement will summarize specific financial and other terms of your note, while this prospectus supplement describes terms that apply generally to the notes as a series. Consequently, the terms described in your pricing supplement will supplement those described in this prospectus supplement and, if the terms described there are inconsistent with those described here, the terms described there will be controlling. The terms used in your pricing supplement have the meaning described in this prospectus supplement, unless otherwise specified.

Payment Mechanics

Who Receives Payment?

      If interest is due on a note on an interest payment date, we will pay the interest to the person or entity in whose name the note is registered at the close of business on the regular record date relating to the interest payment date. See “— Regular Record Dates for Interest” below for more information about the regular record dates. If interest is due at the maturity, we will pay the interest to the person or entity

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Regular Record Dates for Interest

      Unless we specify otherwise in the applicable pricing supplement, the regular record date relating to an interest payment date for any fixed rate note will be the June 1 or December 1 next preceding that interest payment date, and for any floating rate note will be the 15th calendar day before that interest payment date, in each case whether or not the record date is a business day. For the purpose of determining the holder at the close of business on a regular record date when business is not being conducted, the close of business will mean 5:00 P.M., New York City time, on that day.

How We Will Make Payments Due in U.S. Dollars

      We will follow the practice described in this subsection when paying amounts payable in U.S. dollars. Payments of amounts payable in other currencies will be made as described in the next subsection.

      We will make payments on a global note in accordance with the applicable policies of the depositary as in effect from time to time. Under those policies, we will pay directly to the depositary, or its nominee, and not to any indirect owners who own beneficial interests in the global note. An indirect owner’s right to receive those payments will be governed by the rules and practices of the depositary and its participants, as described in the accompanying prospectus under “Description of Debt Securities We May Offer — What Is a Global Debt Security?”.

      We will make payments on a note in non-global form as follows.

      All payments by check will be made in “next-day” funds — i.e., funds that become available on the day after the check is cashed.

      A holder of notes in certificated form with a principal amount of $10,000,000 or more may ask the paying agent in writing before a regular record date to pay interest due on the next interest payment date by transferring immediately available funds to an account at any bank in The City of New York or, with Popular North America, Inc.’s approval, to another bank. The holder must file this request with J.P. Morgan Trust Company, National Association, the paying agent, at its designated agency office. Unless the paying agent receives written notice that the holder is revoking these wire transfer instructions on or before the regular record date immediately preceding an interest payment date or the fifteenth day before maturity, these instructions will apply to any further payment to the holder.

How We Will Make Payments Due in Other Currencies

      We will follow the practice described in this subsection when paying amounts that are payable in a specified currency other than U.S. dollars.

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      We will make payments on global notes in accordance with the applicable policies of the depository as in effect from time to time. We understand that these policies, as currently in effect at DTC, are as follows.

      Unless otherwise indicated in your pricing supplement, if you are an indirect owner of global notes denominated in a specified currency other than U.S. dollars and if you elect to receive payments in a specified currency other than U.S. dollars, you must notify the participant through which your interest in the global note is held of your election:

      You may elect to receive all or only a portion of any interest, principal or premium payment in a specified currency other than U.S. dollars.

      Your participant must, in turn, notify DTC of your election on or before the third DTC business day after that regular record date, in the case of a payment of interest, and on or before the 12th business day before stated maturity, or on the redemption or repayment date if your note is redeemed or repaid earlier, in the case of a payment of principal or any premium.

      DTC, in turn, will notify the paying agent of your election in accordance with DTC’s procedures.

      If complete instructions are received by the participant and forwarded by the participant to DTC, and by DTC to the paying agent, on or before the dates noted above, the paying agent, in accordance with DTC’s instructions, will make the payments to you or your participant by wire transfer of immediately available funds to an account maintained by the payee with a bank located in the country issuing the specified currency or in another jurisdiction outside the United States acceptable to us and the paying agent.

      If the steps described above are not properly completed, you will receive payments in U.S. dollars.

      Indirect owners of a global note denominated in a currency other than U.S. dollars should consult their banks or brokers for information on how to request payment in the specified currency.

      Except as described in the last paragraph under this heading, we will make payments on notes in non-global form in the applicable specified currency. We will make these payments by wire transfer of immediately available funds to any account requested by the holder, provided the account is at a bank located in the country issuing the specified currency or is in another jurisdiction outside the United States acceptable to us and the trustee. To designate an account for wire payment, the holder must give the paying agent appropriate wire instructions at least five business days before the requested wire payment is due. In the case of any interest payment due on an interest payment date, the instructions must be given by the person or entity who is the holder on the regular record date. In the case of any other payment, the payment will be made only after the notes are surrendered to the paying agent. Any instructions, once properly given, will remain in effect unless and until new instructions are properly given in the manner described above.

      If a holder fails to give instructions as described above, we will notify the holder at the address in the trustee’s records and will make the payment within five business days after the holder provides appropriate instructions. Any late payment made in these circumstances will be treated under the indenture as if made on the due date, and no interest will accrue on the late payment from the due date to the date paid.

      Although a payment on a note in non-global form may be due in a specified currency other than U.S. dollars, we will make the payment in U.S. dollars if the holder asks us to do so. To request

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      Book-entry and other indirect owners of a note with a specified currency other than U.S. dollars should contact their banks or brokers for information about how to receive payments in the specified currency or in U.S. dollars.

      When we are asked by a holder to make payments in U.S. dollars of an amount due in another currency, either on a global note or a non-global note as described above, we will determine the U.S. dollar amount the holder receives as follows. The exchange rate agent described below will request currency bid quotations expressed in U.S. dollars from three or, if three are not available, then two, recognized foreign exchange dealers in New York City, any of which may be the exchange rate agent, as of 11:00 A.M., New York City time, on the second business day before the payment date. Currency bid quotations will be requested on an aggregate basis, for all holders of notes and other debt securities, if any, requesting U.S. dollar payments of amounts due on the same date in the same specified currency. The U.S. dollar amount the holder receives will be based on the highest acceptable currency bid quotation received by the exchange rate agent. If the exchange rate agent determines that at least two acceptable currency bid quotations are not available on that second business day, the payment will be made in the specified currency.

      To be acceptable, a quotation must be given as of 11:00 A.M., New York City time, on the second business day before the due date and the quoting dealer must commit to execute a contract at the quotation. If some but not all of the relevant notes are LIBOR notes, the second preceding business day will be determined for this purpose as if none of those notes were LIBOR notes.

      A holder that requests payment in U.S. dollars will bear all associated currency exchange costs, which will be deducted from the payment.

      If we are obligated to make any payment in a specified currency other than U.S. dollars, and the specified currency or any successor currency is not available to us due to circumstances beyond our control — such as the imposition of exchange controls or a disruption in the currency markets — we will be entitled to satisfy our obligation to make the payment in that specified currency by making the payment in U.S. dollars, on the basis of the exchange rate, computed by the exchange rate agent, on the second business day before the particular payment or, if that rate is not then available, on the basis of the most recently available market exchange rate.

      For a specified currency other than U.S. dollars, the exchange rate will be the noon buying rate for cable transfers of the specified currency in The City of New York as certified for customs purposes (or, if not certified, as otherwise determined) by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

      The procedures described above will apply to any note, whether in global or non-global form, and to any payment, including a payment at maturity. Any payment made under the circumstances and in a manner described above will not result in a default under any note or the indenture.

      If we issue a note in a specified currency other than U.S. dollars, we will appoint a financial institution to act as the exchange rate agent and will name the institution initially appointed when the note is originally issued in the applicable pricing supplement. We may select one of our affiliates or one of the

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      All determinations made by the exchange rate agent will be at its sole discretion unless we state in the applicable pricing supplement that any determination requires our approval. In the absence of manifest error, those determinations will be conclusive for all purposes and binding on you and us, without any liability on the part of the exchange rate agent.

Denomination of Notes

      Unless we specify differently in the pricing supplement relating to your note, the denomination of your note will be $100,000 or integral multiples of $1,000 above that. If your note is denominated in a specified currency other than U.S. dollars, the denomination of the note will be in an amount of the specified currency for the note equivalent to $100,000 and integral multiples of $1,000 above that, using an exchange rate equal to the noon buying rate in New York City for cable transfers for the specified currency on the first business day immediately before the date on which we accept the offer to buy the note.

Interest Rates

Fixed Rate Notes

      Each fixed rate note, except any zero coupon note, will bear interest from its original issue date or from the most recent date to which interest on the note has been paid or made available for payment. Interest will accrue on the principal of a fixed rate note at the fixed yearly rate stated in the applicable pricing supplement, until the principal is paid or made available for payment. Unless otherwise specified in the applicable pricing supplement, interest on a fixed rate note will be payable semiannually each June 15 and December 15, which will be the interest payment dates for a fixed rate note, and at maturity. Each payment of interest due on an interest payment date or the date of maturity will include interest accrued from and including the last date to which interest has been paid or made available for payment, or from the issue date if none has been paid or made available for payment, to but excluding the interest payment date or the date of maturity. If, however, an interest payment date or the maturity date of a fixed rate note falls on a day that is not a business day, we will make the required payment of principal, premium, if any, and/or interest on the next succeeding business day, and no additional interest will accrue with respect to the payment made on that next succeeding business day. We will compute interest on fixed rate notes on the basis of a 360-day year of twelve 30-day months. We will pay interest on each interest payment date and at maturity as described above under “— Payment Mechanics”. If the original issue date of a note is between a regular record date and the corresponding interest payment date, the initial interest payment will be made to the holder of record on the next interest payment date after the next regular record date.

Floating Rate Notes

      In this subsection, we use several specialized terms relating to the manner in which floating interest rates are calculated. These terms appear in bold, italicized type the first time they appear, and we define these terms in “— Special Rate Calculation Terms” at the end of this subsection.

      Also, please remember that the specific terms of your note as described in your pricing supplement will supplement and may modify or replace the general terms regarding the floating rates of interest described in this subsection. The statements we make in this subsection may not apply to your note.

      Each floating rate note will bear interest from its original issue date or from the most recent date to which interest on the note has been paid or made available for payment. Interest will accrue on the principal of a floating rate note at the yearly rate determined according to the interest rate formula stated in the applicable pricing supplement, until the principal is paid or made available for payment. We will

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      We currently expect to issue floating rate notes that bear interest at rates based on one or more of the following base rates:

      If you purchase a floating rate note, your pricing supplement will specify the type or types of base rates applicable to your note.

      For any floating rate note, the base rate in effect from the original issue date to the first interest reset date will be the initial base rate. We will specify the initial base rate in the applicable pricing supplement.

      In some cases, the base rate for a floating rate note may be adjusted:

      If you purchase a floating rate note, your pricing supplement will specify whether a spread or spread multiplier will apply to your note and, if so, the amount of the spread or spread multiplier. We may change the spread, spread multiplier, index maturity and other variable terms of the floating rate notes from time to time, but no change will affect any floating rate note previously issued or as to which we have accepted an offer.

      Your pricing supplement will also specify whether the floating rate note is a regular floating rate note, a floating rate/fixed rate note or an inverse floating rate not. Unless you purchase a floating rate note that is designated a floating rate/fixed rate note or an inverse floating rate note, your particular floating rate note will be a regular floating rate note. A regular floating rate note will bear interest at a rate determined by reference to the applicable rate as specified in your pricing supplement and as adjusted by the spread and/or spread multiplier, if applicable. Commencing on the first interest reset date, the rate at which interest on a regular floating rate note is payable will be reset as of each interest reset date. The interest rate in effect for the period, if any, from the date of issue to the first interest reset date will be the initial interest rate.

      A floating rate/fixed rate note will bear interest at a rate determined by reference to the applicable rate as specified in your pricing supplement and as adjusted by the spread and/or spread multiplier, if applicable. Commencing on the first interest reset date, the rate at which interest on a floating rate/fixed

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      An inverse floating rate note will bear interest at a fixed rate minus the applicable interest rate as specified in your pricing supplement and as adjusted by the spread and/or spread multiplier, if applicable, provided, however, that interest on an inverse floating rate note will not be less than zero. Commencing on the first interest reset date, the rate at which interest on an inverse floating rate note is payable will be reset as of each interest reset date. The interest rate in effect for the period, if any, from the date of issue to the first interest reset date will be the initial interest rate.

      Your pricing supplement will also specify, if applicable, the fixed rate commencement date and the fixed interest rate, as those rates may apply to some floating rate notes.

      The actual interest rate, after being adjusted by the spread or spread multiplier, may also be subject to either or both of the following limits:

      If you purchase a floating rate note, your pricing supplement will specify whether a maximum rate and/or minimum rate will apply to your note and, if so, what those rates are.

      Whether or not a maximum rate applies, the interest rate on a floating rate note will in no event be higher than the maximum rate permitted by New York law, as it may be modified by U.S. law of general application. Under current New York law, the maximum rate of interest, with some exceptions, for any loan in an amount less than $250,000 is 16% and for any loan in the amount of $250,000 or more but less than $2,500,000 is 25% per year on a simple interest basis. These limits do not apply to loans of $2,500,000 or more.

      The rest of this subsection describes how the interest rate and the interest payment dates will be determined, and how interest will be calculated, on a floating rate note.

      The rate of interest on a floating rate note will be reset, by the calculation agent described below, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or annually. The date on which the interest rate resets and the reset rate becomes effective is called the interest reset date. Except as otherwise specified in the applicable pricing supplement, the interest reset date will be as follows:

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      For a floating rate note, the interest rate in effect on any particular day will be the interest rate determined with respect to the latest interest reset date that occurs on or before that day. If an interest reset date falls on a day that is not a business day, that interest reset date will be postponed to the next succeeding business day, except where LIBOR is applicable, and that business day falls in the next succeeding calendar month, the particular interest reset date will be the immediately preceding business day. Also, where a treasury rate is applicable, if the interest determination date would otherwise fall on an interest reset date, that interest reset date will be postponed to the next succeeding business day.

      There are several exceptions, however, to the reset provisions described above. The base rate in effect from the original issue date to the first interest reset date will be the initial base rate. For floating rate notes that reset daily or weekly, the base rate in effect for each day following the second business day before an interest payment date to, but excluding, the interest payment date, and for each day following the second business day before the maturity to, but excluding, the maturity, will be the base rate in effect on that second business day.

      The interest rate that takes effect on an interest reset date will be determined by the calculation agent by reference to a particular date called an interest determination date. Except as otherwise specified in the applicable pricing supplement:

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      As described above, the interest rate that takes effect on a particular interest reset date will be determined by reference to the corresponding interest determination date. Except for LIBOR notes and 11th district rate notes, however, the determination of the rate will actually be made by a calculation agent on the corresponding interest calculation date. The interest calculation date will be the earlier of the following:

      The interest payment dates for a floating rate note will depend on when the interest rate is reset and, unless we specify otherwise in the applicable pricing supplement, will be as follows:

      Regardless of these rules, if a note is originally issued after the regular record date and before the date that would otherwise be the first interest payment date, the first interest payment date will be the date that would otherwise be the second interest payment date.

      If the interest payment date would otherwise fall on a day that is not a business day, then the interest payment date will be the next day that is a business day. However, if the floating rate note is a LIBOR note and the next business day falls in the next calendar month, then the interest payment date will be advanced to the next preceding day that is a business day.

      Calculations relating to floating rate notes will be made by the calculation agent, an institution that we appoint as our agent for this purpose. Unless the applicable pricing supplement provides otherwise, J.P. Morgan Trust Company, National Association will be the calculation agent for the floating rate notes. We may appoint a different institution to serve as calculation agent from time to time after the original issue date of a note without your consent and without notifying you of the change.

      For each floating rate note, the calculation agent will determine, on the corresponding interest calculation or determination date, as applicable, the interest rate that takes effect on each interest reset

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      The interest factor for notes as to which the interest rate is based on two or more rates will be calculated in each interest period as if only the applicable rate specified in your pricing supplement applied.

      Upon the request of the holder of any floating rate note, the calculation agent will provide for that note the interest rate then in effect and, if determined, the interest rate that will become effective on the next interest reset date. The calculation agent’s determination of any interest rate, and its calculation of the amount of interest for any interest period, will be final and binding in the absence of manifest error.

      All percentages resulting from any calculation relating to a note will be rounded upward or downward, as appropriate, to the next higher or lower one hundred-thousandth of a percentage point (e.g., 9.876541% (or .09876541) being rounded down to 9.87654% (or .0987654) and 9.876545% (or ..09876545) being rounded up to 9.87655% (or .0987655)). All amounts used in or resulting from any calculation relating to a floating rate note will be rounded upward or downward, as appropriate, to the nearest cent, in the case of U.S. dollars, or to the nearest corresponding hundredth of a unit, in the case of a currency other than U.S. dollars, with one-half cent or one-half of a corresponding hundredth of a unit or more being rounded upward.

      In determining the base rate that applies to a floating rate note during a particular interest period, the calculation agent may obtain rate quotes from various banks or dealers active in the relevant market, as described in the following subsections. Those reference banks and dealers may include the calculation agent itself and its affiliates, as well as any agent and its affiliates, and they may include our affiliates.

      If you purchase a commercial paper rate note, your note will bear interest at a base rate equal to the commercial paper rate and adjusted by the spread or spread multiplier, if any, specified in your pricing supplement.

      The commercial paper rate will be the money market yield of the rate, for the relevant interest determination date, for commercial paper having the index maturity specified in your pricing supplement, as published in H.15 (519) under the heading “Commercial Paper — Non-financial”:

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      If you purchase a prime rate note, your note will bear interest at a base rate equal to the prime rate and adjusted by the spread or spread multiplier, if any, specified in your pricing supplement.

      The prime rate will be the rate, for the relevant interest determination date, published in H.15 (519) under the heading “Bank Prime Loan”.

      If you purchase a LIBOR note, your note will bear interest at a base rate equal to LIBOR, which means the London interbank offered rate for deposits in U.S. dollars or any other index currency, as specified in your pricing supplement. In addition, the applicable LIBOR base rate will be adjusted by the

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in either case, as of 11:00 A.M., London time, on the relevant LIBOR interest determination date, for deposits of the relevant index currency having the relevant index maturity beginning on the relevant interest reset date. Your pricing supplement will indicate the index currency, the index maturity and the reference page that apply to your LIBOR note. If no reference page is specified in your pricing supplement, the Moneyline Telerate LIBOR page will apply to your LIBOR note.

     Treasury Rate Notes

      If you purchase a treasury rate note, your note will bear interest at a base rate equal to the treasury rate and adjusted by the spread or spread multiplier, if any, specified in your pricing supplement.

      The treasury rate will be the rate for the auction, on the relevant treasury interest determination date, of treasury bills having the index maturity specified in your pricing supplement, as that rate appears on Moneyline Telerate page 56 or 57 under the heading “Investment Rate”. If the treasury rate cannot be determined in this manner, the following procedures will apply.

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     CMT Rate Notes

      If you purchase a CMT rate note, your note will bear interest at a base rate equal to the CMT rate and adjusted by the spread or spread multiplier, if any, specified in your pricing supplement.

      The CMT rate will be the following rate displayed on the designated CMT Moneyline Telerate page under the heading “Treasury Constant Maturities”, under the column for the designated CMT index maturity:

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     CD Rate Notes

      If you purchase a CD rate note, your note will bear interest at a base rate equal to the CD rate and adjusted by the spread or spread multiplier, if any, specified in your pricing supplement.

      The CD rate will be the rate, on the relevant interest determination date, for negotiable U.S. dollar certificates of deposit having the index maturity specified in your pricing supplement, as published in H.15 (519) under the heading “CDs (secondary market)”.

      If you purchase a federal funds rate note, your note will bear interest at a base rate equal to the federal funds rate and adjusted by the spread or spread multiplier, if any, specified in your pricing supplement.

      The federal funds rate will be the rate for U.S. dollar federal funds on the relevant interest determination date, as published in H.15 (519) under the heading “Federal Funds (Effective)”, as that rate is displayed on Moneyline Telerate page 120.

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      If you purchase an 11th district rate note, your note will bear interest at a base rate equal to the 11th district rate and adjusted by the spread or spread multiplier, if any, specified in your pricing supplement.

      The 11th district rate will be the rate equal to the monthly weighted average cost of funds for the calendar month immediately before the relevant 11th district interest determination date, as displayed on Moneyline Telerate page 7058 under the heading “11th District” as of 11:00 A.M., San Francisco time, on that date.

      In this subsection entitled “ — Interest Rates”, we use several terms that have special meanings relevant to calculating floating interest rates. We define these terms as follows:

      “Bond equivalent yield” means a yield expressed as a percentage and calculated in accordance with the following formula:

      where

      “Business day” means, for any note, a day that meets all the following applicable requirements:

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      “Designated CMT index maturity” means the index maturity for a CMT rate note and will be the original period to maturity of a U.S. treasury security specified in the applicable pricing supplement. If no such original maturity period is so specified, the designated CMT index maturity will be 2 years.

      “Designated CMT Moneyline Telerate page” means the Moneyline Telerate page specified in the applicable pricing supplement that displays treasury constant maturities as reported in H.15 (519). If no Moneyline Telerate page is so specified, then the applicable page will be Moneyline Telerate page 7052. If Moneyline Telerate Page 7052 applies but the applicable pricing supplement does not specify whether the weekly or monthly average applies, the weekly average will apply.

      “H.15 (519)” means the weekly statistical release designated as “H.15 (519)”, or any successor publication, published by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

      “H.15 Daily Update” means the daily update of H.15 (519) available through the worldwide-web site of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, at http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h15/update, or any successor site or publication.

      “Index currency” means, with respect to a LIBOR note, the currency specified as such in the applicable pricing supplement. The index currency may be U.S. dollars or any other currency, and will be U.S. dollars unless another currency is specified in the applicable pricing supplement.

      “Index maturity” means, with respect to a floating rate note, the period to maturity of the instrument or obligation on which the interest rate formula is based, as specified in the applicable pricing supplement.

      “London banking day” means any day on which commercial banks are open for business (including dealings in the relevant index currency) in London.

      “Moneyline Telerate LIBOR page” means Moneyline Telerate page 3750 or any replacement page or pages on which London interbank rates of major banks for the relevant index currency are displayed.

      “Moneyline Telerate page” means the display on Moneyline Telerate Inc., or any successor service, on the page or pages specified in this prospectus supplement or the applicable pricing supplement, or any replacement page or pages on that service.

      “Money market yield” means a yield expressed as a percentage and calculated in accordance with the following formula:

where

      “Representative amount” means an amount that, in the calculation agent’s judgment, is representative of a single transaction in the relevant market at the relevant time.

      “Reuters screen LIBOR page” means the display on the Reuters Monitor Money Rates Service, or any successor service, on the page designated as “LIBO” or any replacement page or pages on which London interbank rates of major banks for the relevant index currency are displayed.

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      “Reuters screen US PRIME 1 page” means the display on the “US PRIME 1” page on the Reuters Monitor Money Rates Service, or any successor service, or any replacement page or pages on that service, for the purpose of displaying prime rates or base lending rates of major U.S. banks.

      If, when we use the terms designated CMT Moneyline Telerate page, H.15 (519), H.15 Daily Update, Reuters screen LIBOR page, Reuters screen US PRIME 1 page, Moneyline Telerate LIBOR page or Moneyline Telerate page, we refer to a particular heading or headings on any of those pages, those references include any successor or replacement heading or headings as determined by the calculation agent.

Indexed Notes

      We may issue notes with the amount of principal, premium and/or interest payable in respect of the notes to be determined with reference to the price or prices of specified commodities or stocks, to the exchange rate of one or more designated currencies relative to an indexed currency or to other items, which we will specify, if applicable, in your pricing supplement. In certain cases, holders of indexed notes may receive a principal payment on the maturity date that is grater than or less than the principal amount of the indexed notes depending upon the relative value on the maturity date of the specified indexed item. Information as to the method for determining the amount of principal, premium, if any, and/or interest, if any, payable in respect of indexed notes, certain historical information with respect to the specified indexed item and any material tax considerations associated with an investment in indexed notes will be specified in your pricing supplement.

Original Issue Discount Notes

      We may issue notes at a price lower than their stated principal amount which may or may not bear interest. These notes are called original issue discount notes. If original issue discount notes are redeemed before the stated maturity or their maturity is accelerated, the holder will be entitled to receive less than the principal amount of the notes that it holds as provided in the applicable pricing supplement. In addition, original issue discount notes may be considered “discount notes” for U.S. federal income tax purposes, as “United States Taxation — Original Issue Discount” describes later in this prospectus supplement. The pricing supplement may describe other considerations that apply only to original issue discount notes.

Amortizing Notes

      We will make payments on amortized notes at intervals specified in the pricing supplement and at maturity. Unless the applicable pricing supplement specifies otherwise, interest on an amortizing note will be computed on the basis of a 360-day year of twelve 30-day months. Payments on amortizing notes will count towards interest first and then to the reduction of the unpaid principal amount. The applicable pricing supplement and note each will provide information regarding repayment and other matters.

Foreign Currency Notes, Multi-Currency

      A foreign currency or indexed currency supplement in the applicable pricing supplement will establish provisions that apply to notes denominated in a currency other than U.S. dollars. This currency supplement will specify the following information:

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Redemption and Repayment

      Unless otherwise indicated in your pricing supplement, your note will not be entitled to the benefit of any sinking fund — that is, we will not deposit money on a regular basis into any separate custodial account to repay your notes. We will be entitled to redeem your notes in the circumstances described in the accompanying prospectus under “Description of Debt Securities We May Offer — Redemption and Repayment”. Except as described in the accompanying prospectus, we will not be entitled to redeem your note before its stated maturity unless your pricing supplement specifies a redemption commencement date. You will not be entitled to require us to buy your note from you before its stated maturity unless your pricing supplement specifies one or more repayment dates.

      If your pricing supplement specifies a redemption commencement date or a repayment date, it will also specify one or more redemption prices, which will be expressed as a percentage of the principal amount of your note. It may also specify one or more redemption periods during which the redemption prices relating to a redemption of notes during those periods will apply.

      If your pricing supplement specifies a redemption commencement date, your note will be redeemable at our option at any time on or after that date. If we redeem your note, we will do so at the specified redemption price, together with interest accrued to the redemption date. If different prices are specified for different redemption periods, the price we pay will be the price that applies to the redemption period during which your note is redeemed.

      If your pricing supplement specifies a repayment date, your note will be repayable at your option on the specified repayment date at the specified repayment price, together with interest accrued to the repayment date.

      If we exercise an option to redeem any note, we will give to the trustee and the holder written notice of the principal amount of the note to be redeemed, not less than 30 days nor more than 60 days before the applicable redemption date. We will give the notice in the manner described in the accompanying prospectus under “Description of Debt Securities We May Offer — Notices”.

      If a note represented by a global note is repayable at the holder’s option, DTC or its nominee, as the holder, will be the only person that can exercise the right to repayment. Any indirect owners who own beneficial interests in the global note and wish to exercise a repayment right must give proper and timely instructions to their banks or brokers through which they hold their interest, requesting that they notify DTC to exercise the repayment right on their behalf. Different firms have different deadlines for accepting instructions from their customers, and you should take care to act promptly enough to ensure that your request is given effect by DTC before the applicable deadline for exercise.

      Street name and other indirect owners should contact their banks or brokers for information about how to exercise a repayment right in a timely manner.

      If the option of the holder to elect repayment as described above is deemed to be a “tender offer” within the meaning of Rule 14e-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, we will comply with Rule 14e-1 as then in effect to the extent applicable.

      We or our affiliates may purchase notes from investors who are willing to sell from time to time, either in the open market at prevailing prices or in private transactions at negotiated prices. Notes that we or they purchase may, at our discretion, be held, resold or canceled.

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      Cash Basis Taxpayers. If you are a taxpayer that uses the cash receipts and disbursements method of accounting for tax purposes and you receive an interest payment that is denominated in, or determined by reference to, a foreign currency, you must recognize income equal to the U.S. dollar value of the interest payment, based on the exchange rate in effect on the date of receipt, regardless of whether you actually convert the payment into U.S. dollars.

      Accrual Basis Taxpayers. If you are a taxpayer that uses an accrual method of accounting for tax purposes, you may determine the amount of income that you recognize with respect to an interest payment denominated in, or determined by reference to, a foreign currency by using one of two methods. Under the first method, you will determine the amount of income accrued based on the average exchange rate in effect during the interest accrual period (or, with respect to an accrual period that spans two taxable years, that part of the period within the taxable year).

      If you elect the second method, you would determine the amount of income accrued on the basis of the exchange rate in effect on the last day of the accrual period (or, in the case of an accrual period that spans two taxable years, the exchange rate in effect on the last day of the part of the period within the taxable year). Additionally, under this second method, if you receive a payment of interest within five business days of the last day of your accrual period or taxable year, you may instead translate the interest accrued into U.S. dollars at the exchange rate in effect on the day that you actually receive the interest payment. If you elect the second method it will apply to all debt instruments that you own at the beginning of the first taxable year to which the election applies and to all debt instruments that you acquire after that time. You may not revoke this election without the consent of the Internal Revenue Service.

      When you actually receive an interest payment (including a payment attributable to accrued but unpaid interest upon the sale or retirement of your note) denominated in, or determined by reference to, a foreign currency for which you accrued an amount of income, you will recognize ordinary income or loss measured by the difference, if any, between the exchange rate that you used to accrue interest income and the exchange rate in effect on the date of receipt, regardless of whether you actually convert the payment into U.S. dollars.

Original Issue Discount

      If you own a note, other than a note with a term of one year or less (a short-term note), it will be treated as issued at an original issue discount (a discount note) if the amount by which the note’s “stated redemption price at maturity” exceeds its “issue price” is more than a “de minimis amount”. All three terms are defined below. Generally, a note’s issue price will be the first price at which a substantial amount of notes included in the issue of which the note is a part are sold to persons other than bond houses, brokers, or similar persons or organizations acting in the capacity of underwriters, placement agents, or wholesalers. A note’s stated redemption price at maturity is the total of all payments provided by the note that are not payments of qualified stated interest. Generally, an interest payment on a note is qualified stated interest if it is one of a series of stated interest payments on a note that are unconditionally payable at least annually at a single fixed rate (with some exceptions for lower rates paid during some periods) applied to the outstanding principal amount of the note. There are special rules for variable rate notes that we discuss below under “— Variable Rate Notes”.

      In general, your note is not a discount note if the amount by which its stated redemption price at maturity exceeds its issue price is less than 1/4 of 1 percent of its stated redemption price at maturity multiplied by the number of complete years to its maturity (the de minimis amount). Your note will have de minimis original issue discount if the amount of the excess is less than the de minimis amount. If, however, the amount of original issue discount on your note is more than the de minimis amount as otherwise determined, and all stated interest provided for in your note would be qualified stated interest except that for one or more accrual periods the interest rate is below the rate applicable for the remainder

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      Inclusion of Original Issue Discount in Income. Generally, if your discount note matures more than one year from its date of issue, you must include original issue discount, which we call “OID”, in income before you receive cash attributable to that income. The amount of OID that you must include in income is calculated using a constant-yield method, and generally you will include increasing amounts of OID in income over the life of your discount note. More specifically, you can calculate the amount of OID that you must include in income by adding the daily portions of OID with respect to your discount note for each day during the taxable year or portion of the taxable year that you hold your discount note (accrued OID). You can determine the daily portion by allocating to each day in any accrual period a pro rata portion of the OID allocable to that accrual period. You may select an accrual period of any length with respect to your discount note and you may vary the length of each accrual period over the term of your discount note. However, no accrual period may be longer than one year and each scheduled payment of interest or principal on your discount note must occur on either the first or final day of an accrual period.

      You can determine the amount of OID allocable to an accrual period by:

      You must determine the discount note’s yield to maturity on the basis of compounding at the close of each accrual period and adjusting for the length of each accrual period. Further, you determine your discount note’s adjusted issue price at the beginning of any accrual period by:

      If an interval between payments of qualified stated interest on your discount note contains more than one accrual period, then, when you determine the amount of OID allocable to an accrual period, you must allocate the amount of qualified stated interest payable at the end of the interval, including any qualified stated interest that is payable on the first day of the accrual period immediately following the interval, pro rata to each accrual period in the interval based on their relative lengths. In addition, you must increase the adjusted issue price at the beginning of each accrual period in the interval by the amount of any qualified stated interest that has accrued before the first day of the accrual period but that is not payable until the end of the interval. You may compute the amount of OID allocable to an initial short accrual period by using any reasonable method if all other accrual periods, other than a final short accrual period, are of equal length.

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      The amount of OID allocable to the final accrual period is equal to the difference between:

      Acquisition Premium. If you purchase your note for an amount that is less than or equal to the sum of all amounts, other than qualified stated interest, payable on your note after the purchase date but is greater than the amount of your note’s adjusted issue price (determined as described above under “— Original Issue Discount”), the excess is acquisition premium. If you do not make the election described below under “— Election to Treat All Interest as Original Issue Discount”, then you must reduce the daily portions of OID by an amount equal to:

      Pre-Issuance Accrued Interest. An election can be made to decrease the issue price of your note by the amount of pre-issuance accrued interest if:

      If this election is made, a portion of the first stated interest payment will be treated as a return of the excluded pre-issuance accrued interest and not as an amount payable on your note.

      Notes Subject to Contingencies Including Optional Redemption. Your note is subject to a contingency if it provides for an alternative payment schedule or schedules applicable upon the occurrence of a contingency or contingencies, other than a remote or incidental contingency, whether this contingency relates to payments of interest or of principal. In this case, you must determine the yield and maturity of your note by assuming that the payments will be made according to the payment schedule most likely to occur if:

      If there is no single payment schedule that is significantly more likely than not to occur, other than because of a mandatory sinking fund, you must include income on your note in accordance with the general rules that govern contingent payment obligations. These rules will be discussed in the applicable pricing supplement.

      Notwithstanding the general rules for determining yield and maturity, if your note is subject to contingencies, and either you or Popular North America, Inc. has an unconditional option or options that, if exercised, would require payments to be made on the note under an alternative payment schedule or schedules, then:

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      If both you and Popular North America, Inc. hold options described in the preceding sentence, those rules will apply to each option in the order in which they may be exercised. You may determine the yield on your note for the purposes of those calculations by using any date on which your note may be redeemed or repurchased as the maturity date and the amount payable on the date that you chose in accordance with the terms of your note as the principal amount payable at maturity.

      If a contingency, including the exercise of an option, actually occurs or does not occur contrary to an assumption made according to the above rules then, except to the extent that a portion of your note is repaid as a result of this change in circumstances and solely to determine the amount and accrual of OID, you must redetermine the yield and maturity of your note by treating your note as having been retired and reissued on the date of the change in circumstances for an amount equal to your note’s adjusted issue price on that date.

      Election to Treat All Interest as Original Issue Discount. You may elect to include in gross income all interest that accrues on your note using the constant-yield method described above under the heading “— Inclusion of Original Issue Discount in Income”, with the modifications described below. For purposes of this election, interest will include stated interest, OID, de minimis original issue discount, market discount, de minimis market discount and unstated interest, as adjusted by any amortizable bond premium (described below under “— Notes Purchased at a Premium”) or acquisition premium.

      If you make this election for your note, then, when you apply the constant-yield method:

      Generally, this election will apply only to the note for which you make it unless the note has amortizable bond premium or market discount. If the note has amortizable bond premium, you will be deemed to have elected to apply amortizable bond premium against interest for all debt instruments with amortizable bond premium, other than debt instruments the interest on which is excludible from gross income, that you own as of the beginning of the taxable year to which the election applies or any taxable year after that year. Additionally, if you make this election for a market discount note, you will be treated as having made the election discussed below under “— Market Discount” to include market discount in income currently over the life of all debt instruments that you currently own or later acquire. You may not revoke any election to apply the constant-yield method to all interest on a note or the deemed elections with respect to amortizable bond premium or market discount notes without the consent of the Internal Revenue Service.

      Variable Rate Notes. Your note will be a variable rate note if:

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      Your note will have a variable rate that is a qualified floating rate if:

      If your note provides for two or more qualified floating rates that are within 0.25 percentage points of each other on the issue date or can reasonably be expected to have approximately the same values throughout the term of the note, the qualified floating rates together constitute a single qualified floating rate.

      Your note will not have a qualified floating rate, however, if the rate is subject to some restrictions (including caps, floors, governors, or other similar restrictions) unless these restrictions are fixed throughout the term of the note or are not reasonably expected to significantly affect the yield on the note.

      Your note will have a variable rate that is a single objective rate if:

      Your note will not have a variable rate that is an objective rate, however, if it is reasonably expected that the average value of the rate during the first half of your note’s term will be either significantly less than or significantly greater than the average value of the rate during the final half of your note’s term.

      An objective rate as described above is a qualified inverse floating rate if:

      Your note will also have a single qualified floating rate or an objective rate if interest on your note is stated at a fixed rate for an initial period of one year or less followed by either a qualified floating rate or an objective rate for a subsequent period, and either:

      Commercial paper rate notes, prime rate notes, LIBOR notes, treasury rate notes, CMT rate notes, CD rate notes, 11th district rate notes, and federal funds rate notes generally will be treated as variable rate notes under these rules.

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      In general, if your variable rate note provides for stated interest at a single qualified floating rate or objective rate (or one of those rates after a single fixed rate for an initial period), all stated interest on your note is qualified stated interest. In this case, the amount of OID, if any, is determined by using, in the case of a qualified floating rate or qualified inverse floating rate, the value as of the issue date of the qualified floating rate or qualified inverse floating rate, or, in the case of any other objective rate, a fixed rate that reflects the yield reasonably expected for your note.

      If your variable rate note does not provide for stated interest at a single qualified floating rate or a single objective rate, and also does not provide for interest payable at a fixed rate, other than at a single fixed rate for an initial period, you generally must determine the interest and OID accruals on your note by:

      When you determine the fixed rate substitute for each variable rate provided under the variable rate note, you generally will use the value of each variable rate as of the issue date or, for an objective rate that is not a qualified inverse floating rate, a rate that reflects the reasonably expected yield on your note.

      If your variable rate note provides for stated interest either at one or more qualified floating rates or at a qualified inverse floating rate, and also provides for stated interest at a single fixed rate, other than at a single fixed rate for an initial period, you generally must determine interest and OID accruals by using the method described in the previous paragraph. However, your variable rate note will be treated, for purposes of the first three steps of the determination, as if your note had provided for a qualified floating rate, or a qualified inverse floating rate, rather than the fixed rate. The qualified floating rate, or qualified inverse floating rate, that replaces the fixed rate must be such that the fair market value of your variable rate note as of the issue date approximates the fair market value of an otherwise identical debt instrument that provides for the qualified floating rate, or qualified inverse floating rate, rather than the fixed rate.

      Short-Term Notes. In general, if you are an individual or other cash basis United States holder of a short-term note, you are not required to accrue OID, as specially defined below for the purposes of this paragraph, for United States federal income tax purposes unless you elect to do so. However, you may be required to include any stated interest in income as you receive it. If you are an accrual basis taxpayer, a taxpayer in a special class, including, but not limited to, a regulated investment company, common trust fund, or a certain type of passthrough entity, or a cash basis taxpayer who so elects, you will be required to accrue OID on short-term notes on either a straight-line basis or under the constant-yield method, based on daily compounding. If you are not required and do not elect to include OID in income currently, any gain you realize on the sale or retirement of your short-term note will be ordinary income to the extent of the OID accrued on a straight-line basis, unless you make an election to accrue the OID under the constant-yield method, through the date of sale or retirement. However, if you are not required and do not elect to accrue OID on your short-term notes, you will be required to defer deductions for interest on borrowings allocable to your short-term notes in an amount not exceeding the deferred income until the deferred income is realized.

      When you determine the amount of OID subject to these rules, you must include all interest payments on your short-term note, including stated interest, in your short-term note’s stated redemption price at maturity.

      Foreign Currency Discount Notes. If your discount note is denominated in, or determined by reference to, a foreign currency, you must determine OID for any accrual period on your discount note in the foreign currency and then translate the amount of OID into U.S. dollars in the same manner as stated

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      Market Discount. You will be treated as if you purchased your note, other than a short-term note, at a market discount and your note will be a market discount note if:

      If your note’s stated redemption price at maturity or, in the case of a discount note, its revised issue price, does not exceed the price you paid for the note by 1/4 of 1 percent multiplied by the number of complete years to the note’s maturity, the excess constitutes de minimis market discount, and the rules that we discuss below are not applicable to you.

      If you recognize gain on the maturity or disposition of your market discount note, you must treat it as ordinary income to the extent of the accrued market discount on your note. Alternatively, you may elect to include market discount in income currently over the life of your note. If you make this election, it will apply to all debt instruments with market discount that you acquire on or after the first day of the first taxable year to which the election applies. You may not revoke this election without the consent of the Internal Revenue Service. If you own a market discount note and do not make this election, you will generally be required to defer deductions for interest on borrowings allocable to your note in an amount not exceeding the accrued market discount on your note until the maturity or disposition of your note.

      You will accrue market discount on your market discount note on a straight-line basis unless you elect to accrue market discount using a constant-yield method. If you elect to accrue market discount using a constant-yield method, this method will apply only to the note with respect to which it is made and you may not revoke this election.

Notes Purchased at a Premium

      If you purchase your note for an amount in excess of its principal amount, you may elect to treat the excess as amortizable bond premium. If you make this election, you will reduce the amount required to be included in your income each year with respect to interest on your note by the amount of amortizable bond premium allocable, based on your note’s yield to maturity, to that year. If your note is denominated in, or determined by reference to, a foreign currency, you will compute your amortizable bond premium in units of the foreign currency and your amortizable bond premium will reduce your interest income in units of the foreign currency. Gain or loss recognized that is attributable to changes in exchange rates between the time your amortized bond premium offsets interest income and the time of the acquisition of your note is generally taxable as ordinary income or loss. If you make an election to amortize bond premium, the election will apply to all debt instruments (other than debt instruments, the interest on which is excludible from gross income) that you hold at the beginning of the first taxable year to which the election applies, and to all debt instruments that you acquire after that time, and you may not revoke it without the consent of the Internal Revenue Service. See also “— Original Issue Discount — Election to Treat All Interest as Original Issue Discount” for more information about the consequences of an election to amortize bond premium.

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Purchase, Sale and Retirement of the Notes

      Your tax basis in your note will generally be the U.S. dollar cost (as defined below) of your note, adjusted by:

      If you purchase your note with foreign currency, the U.S. dollar cost of your note will generally be the U.S. dollar value of the purchase price on the date of purchase. However, if you are a cash basis taxpayer, or an accrual basis taxpayer if you so elect, and your note is traded on an established securities market, as defined in the applicable Treasury regulations, the U.S. dollar cost of your note will be the U.S. dollar value of the purchase price on the settlement date of your purchase.

      You will generally recognize gain or loss on the sale or retirement of your note equal to the difference between the amount you realize on the sale or retirement and your tax basis in your note. If your note is sold or retired for an amount in foreign currency, the amount you realize will be the U.S. dollar value of this amount on:

      You will recognize capital gain or loss when you sell or retire your note, except to the extent:

      Capital gain of a noncorporate United States holder that is recognized before January 1, 2009 is generally taxed at a maximum rate of 15% where the holder has a holding period greater than one year.

      You must treat any portion of the gain or loss that you recognize on the sale or retirement of a note as ordinary income or loss to the extent attributable to changes in exchange rates. However, you take exchange gain or loss into account only to the extent of the total gain or loss you realize on the transaction.

Exchange of Amounts in Other Than U.S. Dollars

      If you receive foreign currency as interest on your note or on the sale or retirement of your note, your tax basis in the foreign currency will equal its U.S. dollar value when the interest is received or at the time of the sale or retirement. If you purchase foreign currency, you generally will have a tax basis equal to the U.S. dollar value of the foreign currency on the date of your purchase. If you sell or dispose of a foreign currency, including if you use it to purchase notes or exchange it for U.S. dollars, any gain or loss recognized generally will be ordinary income or loss.

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Indexed Notes and Renewable, Extendible and Amortizing Notes

      The applicable pricing supplement will discuss any special United States federal income tax rules (a) with respect to notes the payments on which are determined by reference to any index and other notes that are subject to the rules governing contingent payment obligations which are not subject to the rules governing variable rate notes, (b) with respect to any renewable and extendible notes and (c) with respect to any notes providing for the periodic payment of principal over the life of the note.

Treasury Regulations Requiring Disclosure of Reportable Transactions

      Recently-promulgated Treasury regulations require United States taxpayers to report certain transactions that give rise to a loss in excess of certain thresholds (a “reportable transaction”). Under these regulations, if the notes are denominated in a foreign currency, a United States holder (or a non-United States holder that holds the notes in connection with a U.S. trade or business) that recognizes a loss with respect to the notes that is characterized as an ordinary loss due to changes in currency exchange rates (under any of the rules discussed above) would be required to report the loss on Internal Revenue Service Form 8886 (Reportable Transaction Statement) if the loss exceeds the thresholds set forth in the regulations. For individuals and trusts, this loss threshold is $50,000 in any single taxable year. For other types of taxpayers and other types of losses, the thresholds are higher. You should consult with your tax advisor regarding any tax filing and reporting obligations that may apply in connection with acquiring, owning and disposing of notes.

Non-United States Holders

      This section describes the tax consequences to a non-United States holder. You are a non-United States holder if you are the beneficial owner of a note and are, for United States federal income tax purposes:

      If you are a United States holder, this section does not apply to you.

      This discussion assumes that the note is not subject to the rules of Section 871(h)(4)(A) of the Internal Revenue Code, relating to interest payments that are determined by reference to the income, profits, changes in the value of property or other attributes of the debtor or a related party.

      Under present United States federal income and estate tax law, and subject to the discussion of backup withholding below, if you are a non-United States holder of a note:

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      Further, a note held by an individual, who at death is not a citizen or resident of the United States will not be includible in the individual’s gross estate for United States federal estate tax purposes if:

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Backup Withholding and Information Reporting

      In general, if you are a noncorporate United States holder, Popular North America, Inc. and other payors are required to report to the Internal Revenue Service all payments of principal, any premium and interest on your note, and the accrual of OID on a discount note. In addition, Popular North America, Inc. and other payors are required to report to the Internal Revenue Service any payment of proceeds of the sale of your note before maturity within the United States. Additionally, backup withholding will apply to any payments, including payments of OID, if you fail to provide an accurate taxpayer identification number, or you are notified by the Internal Revenue Service that you have failed to report all interest and dividends required to be shown on your federal income tax returns.

      In general, if you are a non-United States holder, payments of principal, premium or interest, including OID, made by Popular North America, Inc. and other payors to you will not be subject to backup withholding and information reporting, providing that the certification requirements described above under “— Non-United States Holders” are satisfied or you otherwise establish an exemption. However, Popular North America, Inc. and other payors are required to report payments of interest on your notes on Internal Revenue Service Form 1042-S even if the payments are not otherwise subject to information reporting requirements. In addition, payment of the proceeds from the sale of notes effected at a United States office of a broker will not be subject to backup withholding and information reporting, provided that:

      If you fail to establish an exemption and the broker does not possess adequate documentation of your status as a non-United States person, the payments may be subject to information reporting and backup withholding. However, backup withholding will not apply with respect to payments made to an offshore account maintained by you unless the broker has actual knowledge that you are a United States person.

      In general, payment of the proceeds from the sale of notes effected at a foreign office of a broker will not be subject to information reporting or backup withholding. However, a sale effected at a foreign office of a broker will be subject to information reporting and backup withholding if:

unless the broker does not have actual knowledge or reason to know that you are a United States person and the documentation requirements described above (relating to a sale of notes effected at a United States office of a broker) are met or you otherwise establish an exemption.

      In addition, payment of the proceeds from the sale of notes effected at a foreign office of a broker will be subject to information reporting if the broker is:

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Popular, Inc.

      Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

      We may sell the debt securities or preferred stock directly or through one or more agents or dealers. The agents are not required to sell any specific number or amount of the debt securities or preferred stock.

      We may use this prospectus in the initial sale of any security. In addition, we or affiliates may use this prospectus in a market-making transaction in any security after its initial sale. Unless we or our agent informs the purchaser otherwise, this prospectus is being used in a market-making transaction.

      When we define a specialized term, it appears in bold, italicized type. We refer to the debt securities and preferred stock issued under the terms of this prospectus as the securities and to Popular, Inc.’s guarantee of securities offered by Popular International Bank, Inc. or Popular North America, Inc. as the guarantees.

The date of this prospectus is December 29, 2003.

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      Banco Popular North America, Inc. conducts banking operations in the mainland United States. The deposits of Banco Popular North America, Inc. are insured under the Bank Insurance Fund of the FDIC.

      In addition, Banco Popular North America, Inc. owns all of the outstanding stock of Popular Leasing, USA, a non-banking subsidiary that offers small ticket equipment leasing in the mainland United States. Popular Insurance Agency USA, Inc. and Popular FS, LLC are also wholly owned subsidiaries of Banco Popular North America, Inc. Popular Insurance Agency USA, Inc. acts as an agent or broker for issuing insurance and began operations in January 2002. Popular FS, LLC is engaged in the mortgage business.

      Equity One, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Popular North America, Inc., and its subsidiaries are engaged in the business of granting personal and mortgage loans and providing dealer financing in the mainland United States. Popular Cash Express, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Popular North America, Inc., and its subsidiary, Popular Cash Express California, Inc., offer services such as check cashing, money transfers to other countries, money order sales and processing of payments through offices and mobile check cashing units in the mainland United States.

      Condensed consolidating financial information of Popular, Inc. with separate columns for the parent company, Popular North America, Inc., other subsidiaries of Popular, Inc. on a combined basis, consolidating adjustments and the total consolidated amounts are included in the notes to Popular, Inc.’s consolidated financial statements that are incorporated by reference.

      Popular North America, Inc.’s principal executive offices are located at 209 Muñoz Rivera Avenue, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00918, and its telephone number is (787) 765-9800.

      If you want to find more information about us, please see the sections entitled “Where You Can Find More Information” and “Incorporation of Information We File with the SEC” in this prospectus.

      In this prospectus, references to “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Popular, Inc., Popular International Bank, Inc. and Popular North America, Inc. collectively and do not include any consolidated subsidiaries. When we refer to “your security” and “your prospectus supplement”, we mean the security you have purchased and the prospectus supplement describing the specific terms of your security. When we refer to the “issuers”, we mean Popular, Inc., Popular International Bank, Inc. and Popular North America, Inc.

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      The indentures permit us to issue different series of debt securities from time to time. We may issue debt securities in such amounts, at such times and on such terms as we wish. The debt securities will differ from one another in their terms.

      Popular, Inc. may issue senior debt securities under an indenture dated as of February 15, 1995, as supplemented by the First Supplemental Indenture dated as of May 8, 1997 and as further supplemented by the Second Supplemental Indenture dated as of August 5, 1999, in each case between Popular, Inc. and the trustee. Popular, Inc. may issue subordinated debt securities under an indenture dated as of November 30, 1995 between Popular, Inc. and the trustee. Popular North America, Inc. may issue senior debt securities under an indenture dated as of October 1, 1991, as supplemented by the First Supplemental Indenture dated as of February 28, 1995, the Second Supplemental Indenture dated as of May 8, 1997 and the Third Supplemental Indenture dated as of August 5, 1999, in each case among Popular, Inc., Popular North America, Inc. and the trustee. If Popular International Bank, Inc. issues either senior or subordinated debt securities or if Popular North America, Inc. issues subordinated debt securities, it will enter into an appropriate indenture with a trustee.

      The indentures mentioned in the previous paragraph are referred to collectively as the indentures. The debt securities issued under the indentures referred to in the previous paragraph are referred to collectively as the debt securities. The senior debt securities of Popular, Inc., Popular International Bank, Inc. and Popular North America, Inc. are referred to collectively as the senior debt securities and the subordinated debt securities of Popular, Inc., Popular International Bank, Inc. and Popular North America, Inc. are referred to collectively as the subordinated debt securities. A copy or form of each indenture is filed as an exhibit to the registration statement relating to the debt securities.

      Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, the covenants contained in the indentures and the debt securities will not afford holders of the debt securities protection in the event of a recapitalization, restructuring or other highly leveraged transaction.

      This section summarizes the material terms that will apply generally to a series of debt securities. Each particular debt security will have financial and other terms specific to it, and the specific terms of each debt security will be described in a prospectus supplement attached to the front of this prospectus. Those terms may vary from the terms described here. As you read this section, therefore, please remember that the specific terms of your debt security as described in your prospectus supplement will supplement and, if applicable, may modify or replace the general terms described in this section. The statements we make in this section may not apply to your debt security.

      The indentures do not limit the aggregate amount of debt securities that we may issue, nor do they limit the aggregate amount of any particular series. We have initially authorized the issuance of debt securities and preferred stock having an initial offering price no greater than $2,500,000,000, or an equivalent amount in any other currencies or composite currencies. We may, however, increase this authorized amount at any time without your consent.

      The indentures and the debt securities do not limit our ability to incur other indebtedness or to issue other securities. Also, we are not subject to financial or similar restrictions by the terms of the debt securities, except as described under “— Restrictive Covenants” below.

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      Unless otherwise specified in the prospectus supplement, the debt securities will not be secured by any property or assets of the issuers. Thus, by owning a debt security, you are one of the unsecured creditors of the issuer of your debt security. The senior debt securities will not be subordinated to any of our other debt obligations. This means that, in a bankruptcy or liquidation proceeding against the issuer the senior debt securities would rank equally in right of payment with all other unsecured and unsubordinated indebtedness of the issuer of the debt security. The subordinated debt securities may be subordinated to any of our other debt obligations as described in “— Special Terms Relating to the Subordinated Debt Securities” below.

      The indentures and their associated documents, including your debt security, contain the full legal text of the matters described in this section and your prospectus supplement. The indentures and the debt securities are governed by New York law. A copy of each indenture or form of indenture has been filed with the SEC as part of our registration statement. See “— Where You Can Find More Information” below for information on how to obtain a copy.

      Because this section and your prospectus supplement provide only a summary, they do not describe every aspect of the indentures and your debt security. This summary is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to all the provisions of the indentures, including definitions of certain terms used in the indentures. For example, in this section and your prospectus supplement, we use terms that have been given special meaning in the indentures. In this section, however, we describe the meaning for only the more important of those terms.

Features Common to All Debt Securities

      The day on which the principal amount of your debt security is scheduled to become due and payable is called the stated maturity of the principal and is specified in your prospectus supplement. The principal may become due sooner, by reason of redemption or acceleration after a default. The day on which the principal actually becomes due, whether at the stated maturity or earlier, is called the maturity of the principal.

      We also use the terms “stated maturity” and “maturity” to refer to the dates when other payments become due. For example, we may refer to a regular interest payment date when an installment of interest is scheduled to become due as the “stated maturity” of that installment. When we refer to the “stated maturity” or the “maturity” of a debt security without specifying a particular payment, we mean the stated maturity or maturity, as the case may be, of the principal.

      Amounts that become due and payable on your debt security will be payable in a currency, composite currency or basket of currencies specified in your prospectus supplement.

      We call this currency, composite currency or basket of currencies a specified currency. The specified currency for your debt security will be U.S. dollars unless your prospectus supplement states otherwise. A specified currency may include the euro. Some debt securities may have different specified currencies for principal and interest.

      You will have to pay for your debt securities by delivering the requisite amount of the specified currency for the principal to the dealer or dealers that we name in your prospectus supplement, unless other arrangements have been made between you and us or between you and that dealer or dealers. We will make payments on your debt securities in the specified currency, except as otherwise described in your prospectus supplement.

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      We may issue the following types of debt securities:

      A fixed rate debt security, a floating rate debt security or an indexed debt security may be an original issue discount debt security. A debt security of this type is issued at a price lower than its principal amount and provides that, upon redemption or acceleration of its maturity, an amount less than its principal amount will be payable. A debt security issued at a discount to its principal may, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, be considered an original issue discount debt security, regardless of the amount payable upon redemption or acceleration of maturity.

      Your prospectus supplement will describe one or more of the following terms of your debt security:

      If you purchase your note in a market-making transaction, you will receive information about the price you pay and your trade and settlement dates in a separate confirmation of sale. A market-making transaction is one in which Popular Securities, Inc. or another of our affiliates resells a note that it has

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Legal Ownership of Securities

      Please note that in this prospectus, the term “holders” means those who own securities registered in their own names on the books that we or the trustee maintain for this purpose and not those who own beneficial interests in securities registered in “street name” or in securities issued in book-entry form through The Depository Trust Company.

      We refer to those who have securities registered in their own names, on the books that we or the trustee maintain for this purpose, as the holders of those securities. These persons are the legal holders of the securities. We refer to those who, indirectly through others, own beneficial interests in securities that are not registered in their own names as indirect owners of those securities. As we discuss below, indirect owners are not legal holders, and investors in securities issued in book-entry form, which we refer to as book-entry securities or in street name will be indirect owners.

      Securities represented by one or more global securities are registered in the name of a financial institution that holds them as depositary on behalf of other financial institutions that participate in the depositary’s book-entry system. These participating institutions, in turn, hold beneficial interests in the securities on behalf of themselves or their customers.

      Under the indentures, only the person in whose name a security is registered is recognized as the holder of that security. Consequently, for book-entry securities, we will recognize only the depositary as the holder of the securities, and we will make all payments on the securities to the depositary. The depositary passes along the payments it receives to its participants, which in turn pass the payments along to their

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      As a result, investors in global securities will not own debt securities directly. Instead, they will own beneficial interests in a global security, through a bank, broker or other financial institution that participates in the depositary’s book-entry system or holds an interest through a participant. As long as debt securities are issued in global form, investors will be indirect owners, and not holders, of the securities. More information regarding the depositary, participants and indirect owners is described under “— Special Considerations for Global Debt Security — Information Relating to DTC”.

      We may terminate a global security or issue securities initially in non-global form. In these cases, investors may choose to hold their securities in their own names or in “street name”. Securities held by an investor in street name would be registered in the name of a bank, broker or other financial institution that the investor chooses, and the investor would hold only a beneficial interest in those securities through an account he or she maintains at that institution.

      For securities held in street name, we will recognize only the intermediary banks, brokers and other financial institutions in whose names the securities are registered as the holders of those securities, and we will make all payments on those securities to them. These institutions pass along the payments they receive to their customers who are the beneficial owners, but only because they agree to do so in their customer agreements or because they are legally required to do so. Investors who hold securities in street name will be indirect owners, not holders, of those securities.

      If you hold debt securities through a bank, broker or other financial institution, either in book-entry form or in street name, you should check with your own institution to find out:

      Our obligations, as well as the obligations of the trustee and those of any third parties employed by us or the trustee, run only to the holders of securities. We do not have obligations to investors who hold beneficial interests in street name, in global securities or by any other indirect means. This will be the case whether an investor chooses to be an indirect owner of a security or has no choice because we issue the securities only in global form.

      For example, once we make payment or give a notice to the holder, we have no further responsibility for that payment or notice even if that holder is required, under agreements with depositary participants or customers or by law, to pass it along to the indirect owners but does not do so. Similarly, if we want to obtain the approval of the holders for any purpose — e.g., to amend the indentures or to relieve us of the consequences of a default or of our obligation to comply with a particular provision of the indenture — we would seek the approval only from the holders, and not the indirect owners, of the securities. Whether and how the holders contact the indirect owners is up to the holders.

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What Is a Global Debt Security?

      We may issue each debt security only in book-entry form. Each debt security issued in book-entry form will be represented by a global debt security that we will deposit with and register in the name of a financial institution or its nominee, that we select. The financial institution that we select for this purpose is called the depositary. Unless we say otherwise in the applicable prospectus supplement, The Depository Trust Company, New York, New York, known as DTC, will be the depositary for all debt securities issued in book-entry form.

      A global debt security may represent one or any other number of individual debt securities. Generally, all debt securities represented by the same global debt security will have the same terms. We may, however, issue a global debt security that represents multiple debt securities that have different terms and are issued at different times. We call this kind of global debt security a master global debt security.

      A global debt security may not be transferred to or registered in the name of anyone other than the depositary or its nominee, unless special termination situations arise. We describe those situations below under “— Special Considerations for Global Debt Securities — Special Situations When a Global Debt Security Will Be Terminated”. As a result of these arrangements, the depositary, or its nominee, will be the sole registered owner and holder of all debt securities represented by a global debt security, and investors will be permitted to own only beneficial interests in a global debt security. Beneficial interests must be held by means of an account with a broker, bank or other financial institution that in turn has an account with the depositary or with another institution that does. Thus, an investor whose debt security is represented by a global debt security will not be a legal holder of the debt security, but only an indirect owner of a beneficial interest in the global debt security.

      If the prospectus supplement for a particular debt security indicates that the debt security will be issued in “global form only”, then the debt security will be represented by a global debt security at all times unless and until the global debt security is terminated under one of the special situations described below under “— Special Considerations for Global Debt Securities — Special Situations When a Global Debt Security Will Be Terminated”. The global debt security may be a master global debt security, although your prospectus supplement will not indicate whether it is a master global debt security.

Special Considerations for Global Debt Securities

      As an indirect owner, an investor’s rights relating to a global debt security will be governed by the account rules of the investor’s financial institution and of the depositary, as well as general laws relating to securities transfers. We do not recognize this type of investor as a legal holder of debt securities and instead deal only with the depositary, or its nominee, that holds the global debt security.

      If debt securities are issued only in the form of a global debt security, an investor should be aware of the following:

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     Information Relating to DTC

      DTC will act as securities depository for the book-entry securities. The book-entry securities will be issued as fully registered securities registered in the name of Cede & Co. (DTC’s partnership nominee). One fully registered global debt security will be issued for each issue of book-entry securities, each in the aggregate principal amount of that issue, and will be deposited with DTC. If, however, the aggregate principal amount of any issue exceeds $500,000,000, one global debt security will be issued with respect to each $500,000,000 of principal amount and an additional global debt security will be issued with respect to any remaining principal amount of that issue.

      DTC is a limited-purpose trust company organized under the New York Banking Law, a “banking organization” within the meaning of the New York Banking Law, a member of the Federal Reserve System, a “clearing corporation” within the meaning of the New York Uniform Commercial Code, and a “clearing agency” registered under the provisions of Section 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. DTC holds securities that its participants deposit with DTC. DTC also facilitates the settlement among participants of securities transactions, such as transfers and pledges, in deposited securities through electronic computerized book-entry changes in participants’ accounts, thereby eliminating the need for physical movement of securities certificates. Direct participants of DTC include securities brokers and dealers (including the agents), banks, trust companies, clearing corporations and certain other organizations. DTC is owned by a number of its direct participants and by the New York Stock Exchange, Inc., the American Stock Exchange LLC, and the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. Access to DTC’s system is also available to others such as securities brokers and dealers, banks and trust companies that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a direct participant, either directly or indirectly. The rules applicable to DTC and its participants are on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

      Purchases of book-entry securities under DTC’s system must be made by or through direct participants, which will receive a credit for the book-entry securities on DTC’s records. The ownership interest of each actual purchaser of each book-entry note represented by a global debt security, which we refer to as an indirect owner, is in turn to be recorded on the records of direct participants and indirect participants. Indirect owners will not receive written confirmation from DTC of their purchase, but they are expected to receive written confirmations providing details of the transaction, as well as periodic statements of their holdings, from the direct participants or indirect participants through which such indirect owners entered into the transaction. Transfers of ownership interests in a global debt security representing book-entry securities are to be accomplished by entries made on the books of participants acting on behalf of indirect owners. Indirect owners of a global debt security representing book-entry securities will not receive non-global certificates representing their ownership interests in the book-entry securities, except if use of the book-entry system for the book-entry securities is discontinued.

      To facilitate subsequent transfers, all global debt securities representing book-entry securities which are deposited with, or on behalf of, DTC are registered in the name of DTC’s nominee, Cede & Co. The deposit of global debt securities with, or on behalf of, DTC and their registration in the name of Cede & Co. effect no change in beneficial ownership. DTC has no knowledge of the actual indirect owners of the global debt securities representing the book-entry securities; DTC’s records reflect only the identity of the direct participants to whose accounts the book-entry securities are credited, which may or may not be the

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      Conveyance of notices and other communications by DTC to direct participants, by direct participants to indirect participants, and by direct participants and indirect participants to indirect owners will be governed by arrangements among them, subject to any statutory or regulatory requirements as may be in effect from time to time.

      Neither DTC nor Cede & Co. will consent or vote with respect to the global debt securities representing the book-entry securities. Under its usual procedures, DTC mails an omnibus proxy to a company as soon as possible after the applicable record date. The omnibus proxy assigns Cede & Co.’s consenting or voting rights to those direct participants to whose accounts the book-entry securities are credited on the applicable record date (identified in a listing attached to the omnibus proxy).

      Principal, premium, if any, and/or interest, if any, payments on the global debt securities representing the book-entry securities will be made in immediately available funds to DTC. DTC’s practice is to credit direct participants’ accounts on the applicable payment date in accordance with their respective holdings shown on DTC’s records unless DTC has reason to believe that it will not receive payment on that date. Payments by participants to indirect owners will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices, as is the case with securities held for the accounts of customers in bearer form or registered in “street name”, and will be the responsibility of those participants and not of DTC, the trustee or us, subject to any statutory or regulatory requirements as may be in effect from time to time. Payment of principal, premium, if any, and/or interest, if any, to DTC is the responsibility of the issuer and the trustee, disbursement of the payments to direct participants will be the responsibility of DTC, and disbursement of such payments to the indirect owners will be the responsibility of direct participants and indirect participants.

      If applicable, redemption notices will be sent to Cede & Co. If less than all of the book-entry securities of like tenor and terms are being redeemed, DTC’s practice is to determine by lot the amount of the interest of each direct participant in the issue to be redeemed.

      An indirect owner will give notice of any option to elect to have its book-entry securities repaid by us, through its participant, to the trustee, and will effect delivery of the book-entry securities by causing the direct participant to transfer the participant’s interest in the global debt security or securities representing the book-entry securities, on DTC’s records, to the trustee. The requirement for physical delivery of book-entry securities in connection with a demand for repayment will be deemed satisfied when the ownership rights in the global debt security or securities representing the book-entry securities are transferred by direct participants on DTC’s records.

      DTC may discontinue providing its services as securities depository with respect to the book-entry securities at any time by giving reasonable notice to us or the trustee. Under these circumstances, if a successor securities depository is not obtained, non-global certificates are required to be printed and delivered.

      We may decide to discontinue use of the system of book-entry transfers through DTC (or a successor securities depository). In that event, non-global certificates will be printed and delivered.

      The information in this section concerning DTC and DTC’s system has been obtained from sources that we believe to be reliable, but neither we nor any agent takes any responsibility for the accuracy of this information.

Special Situations When a Global Debt Security Will Be Terminated

      In a few special situations described below, a global debt security will be terminated and interests in it will be exchanged for certificates in non-global form representing the debt securities it represented. After that exchange, the choice of whether to hold the debt securities directly or in street name will be up to the investor. Investors must consult their own banks or brokers to find out how to have their interests in a

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      The special situations for termination of a global debt security are:

      When a global debt security is terminated, only the depositary, and not we or the trustee, is responsible for deciding the names of the institutions in whose names the debt securities represented by the global debt security will be registered and, therefore, who will be the holders of those debt securities.

Notices

      Notices to be given to holders of a global note will be given only to the depositary, in accordance with its applicable policies as in effect from time to time. Notices to be given to holders of notes not in global form will be sent by mail to the respective addresses of the holders as they appear in the trustee’s records, and will be deemed given when mailed. Neither the failure to give any notice to a particular holder, nor any defect in a notice given to a particular holder, will affect the sufficiency of any notice given to another holder.

      IN THE REMAINDER OF THIS DESCRIPTION “YOU” MEANS DIRECT HOLDERS AND NOT BOOK ENTRY, STREET NAME OR OTHER INDIRECT OWNERS OF DEBT SECURITIES.

Form, Exchange, Registration and Transfer

      Debt securities may be issued:

      Holders may exchange their non-global debt securities for debt securities of smaller denominations or combined into fewer debt securities of larger denominations, as long as the total principal amount is not changed. This is called an “exchange”.

      Holders may exchange or transfer their certificated debt securities at the office of the trustee. We will initially appoint the trustee to act as our agent for registering debt securities in the names of holders and transferring debt securities. We may appoint another entity to perform these functions or perform them ourselves. The entity performing the role of maintaining the list of registered holders is called the security registrar. It will also perform transfers.

      Holders will not be required to pay a service charge to transfer or exchange their debt securities, but they may be required to pay for any tax or other governmental charge associated with the exchange or transfer. The transfer or exchange will be made only if our transfer agent is satisfied with the holder’s proof of legal ownership.

      If we have designated additional transfer agents for your debt security, they will be named in your prospectus supplement. We may appoint additional transfer agents or cancel the appointment of any particular transfer agent. We may also approve a change in the office through which any transfer agent acts.

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      If any debt securities are redeemable and we redeem less than all those debt securities, we may prohibit the transfer or exchange of those debt securities during the period beginning 15 days before the day we mail the notice of redemption and ending on the day of that mailing, in order to freeze the list of holders to prepare the mailing. We may also refuse to register transfers or exchanges of any debt security selected for redemption, except that we will continue to permit transfers and exchanges of the unredeemed portion of any debt security being partially redeemed.

      If a debt security is issued as a global debt security, only the depositary will be entitled to transfer and exchange the debt security as described in this subsection because it will be the sole holder of the debt security.

Payment and Paying Agent

      The issuer will only be required to make payment of the principal on a debt security if you surrender the debt security to the paying agent for that debt security. The issuer will only be required to make payment of principal and interest at the office of the paying agent, except that at its option, it may pay interest by mailing a check to the holder. Unless we indicate otherwise in the applicable prospectus supplement, the issuer will pay interest to the person who is the holder at the close of business on the record date for that interest payment, even if that person no longer owns the debt security on the interest payment date.

      We will specify in the applicable prospectus supplement the regular record date relating to an interest payment date for any fixed rate debt security and for any floating rate debt security.

     Payment When Offices Are Closed

      If any payment is due on a debt security on a day that is not a business day, we will make the payment on the next day that is a business day. Payments postponed to the next business day in this situation will be treated under the indentures as if they were made on the original due date. Postponement of this kind will not result in a default under any debt security or indenture, and no interest will accrue on the postponed amount from the original due date to the next day that is a business day unless the applicable prospectus supplement specifies otherwise.

     Paying Agent

      We will specify the paying agent for payments with respect to debt securities of each series of debt securities in the applicable prospectus supplement. We may at any time designate additional paying agents, rescind the designation of any paying agent or approve a change in the office through which any paying agent acts, except that we must maintain a paying agent in each place of payment for each series of debt securities.

     Unclaimed Payments

      Regardless of who acts as paying agent, all money paid by us to a paying agent that remains unclaimed at the end of two years after the amount is due to a holder will be repaid to us. After that two-year period, the holder may look only to the issuer (or any guarantor) for payment and not to the trustee, any other paying agent or anyone else.

Redemption and Repayment

      Unless otherwise indicated in your prospectus supplement, your debt security will not be entitled to the benefit of any sinking fund — that is, we will not deposit money on a regular basis into any separate custodial account to repay your debt securities. In addition, except as described below, we will not be entitled to redeem your debt security before its stated maturity unless your prospectus supplement specifies a redemption commencement date. You will not be entitled to require us to buy your debt security from you, before its stated maturity, unless your prospectus supplement specifies one or more repayment dates.

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      If your prospectus supplement specifies a redemption commencement date or a repayment date, it will also specify one or more redemption prices or repayment prices, which will be expressed as a percentage of the principal amount of your debt security. It may also specify one or more redemption periods during which the redemption prices relating to a redemption of debt securities will apply.

      If your prospectus supplement specifies a redemption commencement date, your debt security will be redeemable at our option at any time on or after that date. If we redeem your debt security, we will do so at the specified redemption price, together with interest accrued to the redemption date. If different prices are specified for different redemption periods, the price we pay will be the price that applies to the redemption period during which your debt security is redeemed.

      If your prospectus supplement specifies a repayment date, your debt security will be repayable at your option on the specified repayment date at the specified repayment price, together with interest accrued to the repayment date.

      In the event that we exercise an option to redeem any debt security, we will give to the trustee and the holder written notice of the principal amount of the debt security to be redeemed, not less than 30 days nor more than 60 days before the applicable redemption date. Notice of this redemption will be mailed to holders at the address that appears on the register of the redeemed debt securities.

      If a debt security represented by a global debt security is repayable at the holder’s option, the depositary or its nominee, as the holder, will be the only person that can exercise the rights to repayment. Any indirect owners who own beneficial interests in the global debt security and wish to exercise a repayment right must give proper and timely instructions to their banks or brokers through which they hold their interests, requesting that they notify the depositary to exercise the repayment right on their behalf. Different firms have different deadlines for accepting instructions from their customers, and you should take care to act promptly enough to ensure that your request is given effect by the depositary before the applicable deadline for exercise.

      Street name and other indirect owners should contact their banks or brokers for information about how to exercise a repayment right in a timely manner.

      If the option of the holder to elect repayment as described above is deemed to be a “tender offer” within the meaning of Rule 14e-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, we will comply with Rule 14e-1 as then in effect to the extent applicable.

      We or our affiliates may purchase debt securities from investors who are willing to sell from time to time, either in the open market at prevailing prices or in private transactions at negotiated prices. Debt securities that we or they purchase may, at our discretion, be held, resold or canceled.

      A change in law, regulation or interpretation could oblige Popular, Inc. or Popular International Bank, Inc. to pay the additional amounts that are discussed in “— Taxation by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico” below. If this happens, we will have the option of redeeming or repaying an entire series of the debt securities at our discretion after giving between 30 and 60 days’ notice to the holders at a redemption price of 100% of the principal amount of the notes with the accrued interest to the redemption date, or another redemption price specified in the applicable prospectus supplement.

Mergers and Similar Transactions

      Each issuer is generally permitted to merge or consolidate with another entity. Each issuer is also permitted to sell its assets substantially as an entirety to another firm. An issuer may not take any of these actions, however, unless all the following conditions are met:

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      These conditions will apply only if an issuer wishes to merge, consolidate or sell its assets substantially as an entirety. An issuer will not need to satisfy these conditions if it enters into other types of transactions, including any transaction in which it acquires the stock or assets of another firm, any transaction that involves a change of control of it but in which it does not merge or consolidate and any asset sale that does not constitute a sale of its assets substantially as an entirety.

      The meaning of the phrase “substantially as an entirety” as used above will be interpreted in connection with the facts and circumstances of the subject transaction and is subject to judicial interpretation. Accordingly, in certain circumstances, there may be a degree of uncertainty in ascertaining whether a particular transaction would involve a disposition of the assets of the issuer substantially as an entirety.

Restrictive Covenants

      In the senior indentures, Popular, Inc. promises not to sell, transfer or otherwise dispose of any voting stock of Banco Popular or permit Banco Popular to issue, sell or otherwise dispose of any of its voting stock, unless, after giving effect to the transaction, Banco Popular, Inc. remains a controlled subsidiary (as defined below), except as provided above under “— Mergers and Similar Transactions”.

      In addition, Popular, Inc. may not permit Banco Popular to:

      The senior indentures define “voting stock” as the stock of the class or classes having general voting power under ordinary circumstances to elect a majority of the board of directors, managers or trustees of a corporation. Stock that may vote only if an event occurs that is beyond the control of its holders is not considered voting stock under the senior indentures, whether or not the event has happened. “Controlled subsidiary” means any corporation of which an issuer owns more than 80% of the outstanding voting stock.

      Popular, Inc. also promises in the senior indentures not to, nor to permit any material banking subsidiary to, create, incur or permit to exist any indebtedness for borrowed money secured by a lien or other encumbrance on the voting stock of any material banking subsidiary unless Popular, Inc.’s senior debt securities, Popular, Inc.’s guarantees of Popular North America, Inc.’s senior debt securities and, at Popular, Inc.’s discretion, any other indebtedness with a right of payment equal to Popular, Inc.’s senior debt securities and Popular, Inc.’s guarantees of Popular North America, Inc.’s senior debt securities are secured on an equal basis. “Material banking subsidiary” means any controlled subsidiary chartered as a banking corporation under federal, state or Puerto Rico law that is a significant subsidiary of Popular, Inc. as defined in Rule 1-02 of Regulation X of the SEC. As of the date of this prospectus, Banco Popular de Puerto Rico and Banco Popular North America are the only material banking subsidiaries of Popular, Inc.

      Liens imposed to secure taxes, assessments or governmental charges or levies are not restricted, however, provided they are:

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      The subordinated indentures do not contain similar restrictions.

Default and Remedies

      Every year each issuer is required to send the trustee for its debt securities a report on its performance of its obligations under the senior indentures and the subordinated indentures and on any default. You will have special rights if an event of default with respect to your senior debt security occurs and is not cured, as described in this subsection.

Events of Default

      Senior Indentures. With respect to your senior debt security, the term “event of default” means any of the following:

      However, a notice of default as described in the fourth and fifth bullet points above must be sent by the trustee or the holders of at least 25% of the principal amount of senior debt securities of the series for those events to be events of default.

      “Borrowed money debt” means any of the issuer’s indebtedness for borrowed money or the indebtedness of a material banking subsidiary of the issuer, other than the series of which your senior debt security is a part.

      The trustee shall give notice of any default, but notice of a default with respect to a covenant as described in the fourth bullet point above will not be given until at least 30 days after it occurs.

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      Subordinated Indentures. With respect to your subordinated debt security, the term “event of default” means that a filing for bankruptcy or other events of bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization relating to the issuer occurs. The subordinated indentures do not provide for any right of acceleration of the payment of principal upon a default in the payment of principal, premium or interest or in the performance of any covenant or agreement on a series of subordinated debt securities or on the subordinated indentures.

      Under certain circumstances, the holders of not less than a majority in principal amount of the debt securities of any series may waive a default for all the debt securities of that series. If this happens, the default will be treated as if it had not occurred.

      Senior Indentures. If an event of default on the senior debt securities of any series has occurred and has not been cured or waived, the trustee or the holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the outstanding senior debt securities of that series may declare the entire principal amount of the senior debt securities of that series to be due immediately.

      This situation is called an “acceleration of the maturity” of the senior debt securities. If the maturity of any senior debt securities of any series is accelerated, the holders of a majority in principal amount of the senior debt securities of that series affected by the acceleration may cancel the acceleration for all of those senior debt securities if the issuer has paid all amounts due with respect to those securities, other than amounts due because of the acceleration of the maturity, and all events of default, other than nonpayment of their accelerated principal, have been cured or waived.

      Subordinated Indentures. If an event of default on the subordinated debt securities of any series has occurred and has not been cured or waived, the trustee or the holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the outstanding subordinated debt securities of that series may declare the entire principal amount of that series of subordinated debt securities to be due immediately. This situation is called an acceleration of the maturity of those subordinated debt securities. If the maturity of any subordinated debt securities of any series is accelerated, the holders of at least a majority in principal amount of the subordinated debt securities of that series affected by the acceleration may cancel the acceleration for all the affected subordinated debt securities.

     Trustee’s Indemnity

      If an event of default on any series of debt securities occurs, the trustee for those securities will have special duties. In that situation, the trustee will be obligated to use those of its rights and powers under the indenture, and to use the same degree of care and skill in doing so, that a prudent person would use in that situation in conducting his or her own affairs.

      Except as described in the prior paragraph, the trustee is not required to take any action under any of the indentures at the request of any holders unless the holders of that series offer the trustee reasonable protection from expenses and liability. This is called an “indemnity”. If reasonable indemnity is provided, the holders of a majority in principal amount of all of the outstanding debt securities of that series may direct the time, method and place of conducting any lawsuit or other formal legal action seeking any remedy available to the trustee. These majority holders of that series may also direct the trustee in performing any other action under the indenture with respect to the debt securities of that series.

      Before you can bypass the trustee and bring your own lawsuit or other formal legal action or take other steps to enforce your rights or protect your interests relating to your debt securities, the following must occur:

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      You are, however, entitled at any time to bring a lawsuit for the payment of money due on your debt security on or after its due date.

      Book-entry, street name and other indirect owners should consult their banks or brokers for information on how to give notice or direction to or make a request of the trustee and how to declare or cancel an acceleration of the maturity.

Modification and Waiver of the Indentures

      There are three types of changes we can make to the indentures and the debt securities.

      First, there are changes that cannot be made without the approval of each holder of a debt security affected by the change. Here is a list of this type of change:

      The second type of change does not require any approval by holders of debt securities. This type is limited to clarifications and changes that would not adversely affect the interests of the holders of the debt securities in any material respect, nor do we need your consent to make changes that affect only other debt securities to be issued after the changes take effect.

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      We may also make changes or obtain waivers that do not adversely affect a particular debt security, even if they affect other debt securities or series of debt securities. In those cases, we do not need to obtain the approval of the holder of that debt security; we need only obtain any required approvals from the holders of the affected debt securities or other debt securities.

      Any other changes to the indentures and the debt securities would require the following approval:

      In each case, the required approval may be given by written consent.

      The approval of at least a majority in principal amount of the debt securities of each affected series of an issuer would be required for the issuer to obtain a waiver of any of its covenants in the indentures. The covenants include the promises about merging and putting liens on the issuer’s interests, which we describe above under “— Mergers and Similar Transactions” and “— Restrictive Covenants”. If the required holders approve a waiver of a covenant, we will not have to comply with it. The holders, however, cannot approve a waiver of any provision in a particular debt security, or in the indenture as it affects that debt security, that we cannot change without the approval of the holder of that debt security as described above in “— Changes Requiring Your Approval”, unless that holder approves the waiver.

      Book-entry, street name and other indirect owners should consult their banks or brokers for information on how approval may be granted or denied if we seek to change the indentures or the debt securities or request a waiver.

      When taking a vote, we will use the following rules to decide how much principal amount to attribute to a debt security:

      Debt securities will not be considered outstanding, and therefore will not be eligible to vote, if we have deposited or set aside in trust for you money for their payment or redemption.

      We will generally be entitled to set any day as a record date for the purpose of determining the holders of outstanding debt securities that are entitled to vote or take other action under the indenture.

Taxation by the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

      We will not withhold or deduct any present or future taxes, duties, assessments or governmental charges that are imposed or levied by or on behalf of Puerto Rico or by or with any district, municipality or other political subdivision of Puerto Rico from payments to holders of the debt securities and all

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      In the event that law requires the issuer to deduct or withhold any amounts in respect of these taxes, duties, assessments or governmental charges, the issuer will pay these additional amounts of principal, premium and interest (after deduction of these taxes, duties, assessments or governmental charges) in the payment to the holders of the debt securities, of the amounts which we would otherwise have paid in respect to the debt securities in the absence of deductions or withholding, which we refer to as additional amounts, except that we will not pay any additional amounts:

Special Terms Relating to the Subordinated Debt Securities

      Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, the following provisions apply to the subordinated debt securities and Popular, Inc.’s guarantees of the subordinated debt securities of Popular International Bank, Inc. and Popular North America, Inc.

      The right of a holder of subordinated debt securities to payment from any distribution of an issuer’s assets resulting from any dissolution, winding up, liquidation, bankruptcy or reorganization of the issuer are subordinated to the prior right to payment in full of all of that issuer’s senior indebtedness (as defined below). The issuer’s obligation to make payments on the subordinated debt securities will not otherwise be affected. No payment on the issuer’s subordinated debt securities may be made during a default on any senior indebtedness of the issuer. Because the subordinated debt securities are subordinated in right of payment to any senior indebtedness of the issuer, in the event of a distribution of assets upon insolvency, some of the issuer’s creditors may recover more, ratably, than holders of subordinated debt securities of the issuer.

      In addition, any amounts of cash, property or securities available after satisfaction of the rights to payment of senior indebtedness will be applied first to pay for the full payment of the issuer’s other financial obligations (as defined below) before any payment will be made to holders of the subordinated debt securities. If the maturity of any subordinated debt securities is accelerated, all senior indebtedness of the issuer would have to be repaid before any payment could be made to holders of the issuer’s subordinated debt securities. Because of this subordination, if an issuer becomes insolvent, its creditors who are not holders of senior indebtedness or subordinated debt securities may recover ratably less than holders of its senior indebtedness and may recover ratably more than holders of its subordinated debt securities.

      “Senior indebtedness” of an issuer means an issuer’s indebtedness for money borrowed, except indebtedness that by its terms is not superior in right of payment to the subordinated debt securities.

      “Other financial obligations” of an issuer are defined in the subordinated indenture of that issuer to mean obligations of that issuer to make payment pursuant to the terms of financial instruments, such as:

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      The description of the preferred stock that is set forth below and in any prospectus supplement is only a summary and is qualified by reference to the documents that govern each issuer’s preferred stock, which include:

      For Popular, Inc.:

      For Popular International Bank, Inc. and Popular North America, Inc.:

      These documents will be filed as exhibits to the registration statement relating to the preferred stock at or prior to the time of issuance of preferred stock.

Authority to Issue Preferred Stock

      The Articles of Incorporation of Popular, Inc. authorizes its board of directors to issue without the approval of the stockholders up to 10,000,000 shares of authorized preferred stock with no par value. Popular, Inc. has designated and issued 7,475,000 shares of 6.375% Noncumulative Monthly Income Preferred Stock, 2003 Series A and has 2,525,000 shares of Preferred Stock available to issue.

      Popular International Bank, Inc.’s Certificate of Incorporation authorizes its board of directors to issue 25,000,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $25.00 per share. Popular North America, Inc.’s Certificate of Incorporation authorizes its board of directors to issue 1,000 shares of preferred stock with a par value of $.01 per share.

      As of the date of this prospectus, Popular International Bank, Inc. and Popular North America, Inc. had no shares of preferred stock outstanding; Popular, Inc. owned all of Popular International Bank, Inc.’s common stock; and Popular International Bank, Inc. owned all of Popular North America, Inc.’s common stock.

      Each issuer’s board of directors has the right to designate, for each series of preferred stock:

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General Terms of the Preferred Stock

      Banco Popular’s Trust Division will be the transfer agent, dividend disbursing agent and registrar for the preferred stock unless otherwise specified in the applicable prospectus supplement. The issuers are holding companies, so their rights and the rights of holders of preferred stock to participate in the distribution of assets of any of their subsidiaries upon their liquidation or recapitalization separately or together will be subject to the prior claims of the subsidiary’s creditors and preferred stockholders, except to the extent the issuers may be creditors with recognized claims against the subsidiary or holders of preferred stock of the subsidiary.

      The preferred stock will be fully paid and non-assessable when issued and will provide holders with no rights to acquire securities, including preferred stock, that may be issued after you purchase preferred stock. The shares of any series of preferred stock may not trade at the liquidation preference for that series. With regard to payment of dividends, except for the cumulation of dividends, and rights on liquidation, dissolution or winding up of the issuer, the preferred stock will rank senior to the equity securities of the issuer expressly made junior to it and the issuers’ common stock, equally with other outstanding series of preferred stock expressly made equal to the preferred stock and junior to all equity securities expressly made senior to the preferred stock of the issuer. The term “equity securities” in a certificate of amendment will not include debt securities convertible into or exchangeable for equity securities.

Dividends and Distributions

      At their discretion, the board of directors of each issuer may declare cash dividends on the preferred stock of the issuer that are payable out of funds legally available for that purpose. The rate or formula to determine the rate used to calculate the dividends is set forth in the prospectus supplement for each series of preferred stock. The dividends may be cumulative or non-cumulative as provided in the applicable prospectus supplement and will be payable to the holders of record on the record dates fixed by the board of directors. The issuers’ ability to pay dividends is subject to policies of the Federal Reserve Board.

      No dividends may be declared or paid or funds set apart for the payment of dividends on any equity securities of an issuer with equal or lesser rights to the payment of dividends unless dividends are paid or set apart for such payment on the preferred stock of the issuer. If an issuer does not fully pay dividends on its preferred stock, holders of the preferred stock of that issuer will share dividends pro rata with equity securities of the issuer with equal rights to the payment of dividends.

Conversion

      The prospectus supplement for any series of preferred stock will state any terms on which shares of that series are convertible into shares of another series of preferred stock.

      We will reserve and keep available the full number of shares of the additional preferred stock deliverable upon the conversion of all outstanding shares of any convertible series of preferred stock. The issuer will keep these reserved shares of preferred stock free from preemptive rights.

      No fractional shares or scrip representing fractional shares of preferred stock will be issued on the conversion of any convertible preferred stock. At our election, each holder who would otherwise receive fractional shares will instead be entitled to receive a cash payment equal to either the current market price

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Exchange

      If so determined by the board of directors of an issuer, the holders of preferred stock of any series may be obligated to exchange their shares for other preferred stock or debt securities. The terms of any exchange and any replacement preferred stock or debt securities will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement.

Redemption

      We may issue a series of preferred stock of which we can redeem all or part at any time upon terms and at the redemption prices set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement.

      If any issuer redeems part of a series of preferred stock, that issuer will determine which shares to redeem by lot or pro rata or by any other method determined to be equitable by each issuer’s board of directors.

      Unless we fail to pay the redemption price, dividends will cease to accrue on preferred stock called for redemption on or after a redemption date, and the holders’ rights will terminate, except for the right to receive the redemption price.

      Under current regulations, bank holding companies may not exercise any option to redeem shares of preferred stock included as Tier 1 capital, or exchange such preferred stock for debt securities, without the prior approval of the Federal Reserve Board. Ordinarily, the Federal Reserve Board would not permit such a redemption unless

Preferences in Liquidation

      In the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of an issuer, the holders of preferred stock of that issuer will have preference and priority over any class of equity securities that ranks junior to their preferred stock upon liquidation, dissolution or winding up. This priority will extend to payments in the amount set forth in the applicable prospectus supplement plus all accrued and unpaid dividends to the date of final distribution to the holders. These payments may be made from capital or surplus using the assets of the relevant issuer or proceeds from any liquidation. If these assets or proceeds are insufficient to satisfy fully all claims with an equal priority of payment, then the assets and proceeds will be distributed ratably among the holders of preferred stock of that issuer. If you own non-cumulative preferred stock, you will not be entitled to receive payment for unpaid dividends from prior dividend periods. After you are paid the full amount of the liquidation preference to which you are entitled, you will not be entitled to participate in any further distribution of assets of the issuer of your preferred stock.

Voting Rights

      The term “Banking Law” refers to a Puerto Rico law and the term “Office of the Commissioner” refers to the Puerto Rico Office of Financial Institutions, a regulator. The definitions of these terms are incorporated in this subsection by reference to the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Popular, Inc. for the year ended December 31, 2002.

      Except as indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement or as expressly required by applicable law, you will have no voting rights.

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      Under regulations adopted by the Federal Reserve Board, any series of preferred stock whose holders become entitled to vote for the election of directors may be deemed a “class of voting securities”. A holder of 25% or more of such series (or a holder of 5% if it otherwise exercises a “controlling influence” over the relevant issuer) may then be subject to regulation as a bank holding company in accordance with the Bank Holding Company Act. In addition, when a series is deemed a class of voting securities,

      Section 12 of the Banking Law requires prior approval of the Office of the Commissioner to obtain control of any bank organized under the Banking Law. The Banking Law requires that both parties involved in a transfer of voting and outstanding capital stock of any bank organized under the laws of Puerto Rico to any person or entity that will become directly or indirectly the owner after the transfer of more than 5% of the voting and outstanding capital stock of that bank shall inform the Office of the Commissioner of the proposed transfer at least 60 days prior to the date the transfer is to be effected. The Banking Law does not contain any provision allowing for the extension of such 60-day time period. The transfer requires the approval of the Office of the Commissioner if it results in a change of control of the bank. For the purposes of Section 12 of the Banking Law, the term “control” means the power to, directly or indirectly, direct or influence decisively the administration or the normal operation of the bank. The Department of the Treasury (predecessor to the Office of the Commissioner) made a determination that the foregoing provisions of the Banking Law are applicable to a change in control of Popular, Inc. in a letter dated April 9, 1985.

      Pursuant to Section 12(d) of the Banking Law, as soon as the Office of the Commissioner receives notice of a proposed transaction that may result in the control or in a change of control of a bank, the Office of the Commissioner shall have the duty to make the necessary investigations. The Office of the Commissioner shall issue authorization for the transfer of control of the bank if the results of his investigations are in his judgment satisfactory. The decision of the Office of the Commissioner is final and unreviewable.

Popular, Inc.’s Guarantee

      Popular, Inc. will fully and unconditionally guarantee the punctual payment of:

      The guarantee of the Popular International Bank, Inc. and Popular North America preferred stock shall constitute an unsecured obligation of Popular, Inc. and will rank junior to all of its liabilities. The guarantee will rank senior to Popular, Inc.’s common stock. The guarantee’s rank relative to the preferred stock of Popular, Inc. will be specified in the applicable prospectus supplement.

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