FORM 3

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20549 INITIAL STATEMENT OF BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940

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(Print or Type Responses)

1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *   UNANUE CARLOS 2. Date of Event Requiring Statement (Month/Day/Year) 01/26/2010 3. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol POPULAR INC [BPOP] (Last) (First) (Middle) P.O. BOX 601467 4. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer (Check all applicable) __X__ Director _____ 10% Owner _____ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below) 5. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year) (Street) SAN JUAN, PR 00936-0960 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line) _X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person ___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person (City) (State) (Zip) Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned

1.Title of Security (Instr. 4) 2. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned (Instr. 4) 3. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5) 4. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5) Common Stock Par Value $0.01 per share 120,278 D   Common Stock Par Value $0.01 per share 757,312 I By mother (1) Common Stock Par Value $0.01 per share 53,312 I By Island Can Corporation (2)

Reminder: Report on a separate line for each class of securities beneficially owned directly or indirectly.			SEC 1473 (7-02)
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Table II - Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned (e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)

1. Title of Derivative Security (Instr. 4)	2. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date (Month/Day/Year)		3. Title and Amount of Securities Underlying Derivative Security (Instr. 4)		4. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security	5. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I) (Instr. 5)	6. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership (Instr. 5)
	Date Exercisable	Expiration Date	Title	Amount or Number of Shares

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address	Relationships
	Director	10% Owner	Officer	Other
UNANUE CARLOS P.O. BOX 601467 SAN JUAN, PR 00936-0960	  X	Â	Â	Â

Signatures

Marie Reyes-Rodriguez, Attorney-in-fact		02/04/2010
**Signature of Reporting Person		Date

Explanation of Responses:

*	If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 5(b)(v).
**	Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1)	The reporting person disclaims beneficial ownership of these securities, and this report shall not be deemed an admission that the reporting person is the beneficial owner of such securities for purposes of Section 16 or for any other purpose.
(2)	Island Can Corporation owns 640,000 shares of common stock. Represents 8.33% of the shares of common stock held by Island Can Corporation of which the reporting person has an ownership interest of 8.33% and is General Manager. The reporting person disclaims beneficial ownership of these securities, and this report shall not be deemed an admission that the reporting person is the beneficial owner of such securities for purposes of Section 16 or for any other purpose.

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