-----BEGIN PRIVACY-ENHANCED MESSAGE-----
Proc-Type: 2001,MIC-CLEAR
Originator-Name: webmaster@www.sec.gov
Originator-Key-Asymmetric:
 MFgwCgYEVQgBAQICAf8DSgAwRwJAW2sNKK9AVtBzYZmr6aGjlWyK3XmZv3dTINen
 TWSM7vrzLADbmYQaionwg5sDW3P6oaM5D3tdezXMm7z1T+B+twIDAQAB
MIC-Info: RSA-MD5,RSA,
 RYzG6MJTZZzIZ11yFEIMWhs+w+seIY6+HAuxG/zTu/0mpCKRkFFgm/3VhbO1xblY
 N6u4x+0yNDOrBQoXAMQvcA==

<SEC-DOCUMENT>0000106926-98-000001.txt : 19980128
<SEC-HEADER>0000106926-98-000001.hdr.sgml : 19980128
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0000106926-98-000001
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	424B3
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
FILED AS OF DATE:		19980126
SROS:			NASD

FILER:

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			WHITNEY HOLDING CORP
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0000106926
		STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION:	NATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANKS [6021]
		IRS NUMBER:				726017893
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			LA
		FISCAL YEAR END:			1231

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		424B3
		SEC ACT:		
		SEC FILE NUMBER:	033-56277
		FILM NUMBER:		98513219

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		228 ST CHARLES AVE
		CITY:			NEW ORLEANS
		STATE:			LA
		ZIP:			70130
		BUSINESS PHONE:		5045867570

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		228 ST CHARLES AVE
		CITY:			NEW ORLEANS
		STATE:			LA
		ZIP:			70130
</SEC-HEADER>
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>424B3
<SEQUENCE>1
<DESCRIPTION>PROSPECTUS
<TEXT>


                                [GRAPHIC OMITTED]




                                Legal Department
                         Established 1883 - Member FDIC

                       P. O. Box 95054, New Orleans 70195
              228 St. Charles Avenue, Suite 622, New Orleans 70130
                       (504) 552-4770 Fax: (504) 586-3478
Aniko M. Kiraly
Vice President
Associate Counsel

                                January 26, 1998



SENT VIA EDGAR
Securities and Exchange Commission
450 5th Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20549

         Re:      Whitney Holding Corporation
                  Amended Retirement Plan Prospectus
                  Registration No. 33-56277

Gentlemen:

         Attached for filing is an amended  Prospectus for the Whitney  National
Bank Retirement Plan filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3).

         Please call me upon receipt of this filing if you have any questions or
need additional information.

                                Very truly yours,



                                 Aniko M. Kiraly

tzl/26574.04A
Enclosures


<PAGE>

                                                Filed pursuant to Rule 424(b)(3)
                                                       Registration No. 33-56277

                           WHITNEY HOLDING CORPORATION

                                   PROSPECTUS

                                  COMMON STOCK

                                 (No Par Value)

         This Prospectus relates to an aggregate of 39,555 shares (the "Shares")
of  Common  Stock,  no par  value  (the  "Common  Stock"),  of  Whitney  Holding
Corporation  (the  "Company")  that may be sold,  from time to time,  by Whitney
National  Bank,  as trustee of the Whitney  National Bank  Retirement  Plan (the
"Selling  Shareholder").  The Common  Stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market
("Nasdaq")  under  the  symbol  "WTNY."  Shares  will  be  sold  by the  Selling
Shareholder  from time to time, in ordinary  brokers'  transactions  through the
Nasdaq at the price prevailing at the time of such sales. The commission payable
will be the regular  commission  a broker  receives  for  effecting  such sales.
Shares may also be offered in block trades,  private  transactions or otherwise.
The net proceeds to the Selling  Shareholder will be the proceeds received by it
upon such  sales,  less  brokerage  commissions.  The  Company  will  receive no
proceeds  pursuant  to the sale of Shares.  Information  regarding  the  Selling
Shareholder  is set forth  herein  under the heading  "Selling  Shareholder  and
Shares that may be Offered." All expenses of registration incurred in connection
with this  offering are being borne by the Company,  but the brokerage and other
expenses  of sale  incurred  by the  Selling  Shareholder  will be  borne by the
Selling Shareholder.

         No  person  is  authorized  to give  any  information  or to  make  any
representations  other than those contained or incorporated by reference in this
Prospectus in connection  with the offer  contained in this  Prospectus  and, if
given or made, any such information or representation must not be relied upon as
having been  authorized by the Company.  This  Prospectus does not constitute an
offer to sell or a  solicitation  of an offer to buy  securities in any state or
other jurisdiction  where, or to any person to whom, it is unlawful to make such
an offer or  solicitation.  Neither the delivery of this Prospectus nor any sale
made hereunder shall, under any circumstances, create any implication that there
has been no change in the affairs of the Company since the date hereof.

         On January 16, 1998,  the average of the high and low sale price of the
Common Stock through the Nasdaq was $54.625 per share.

                          -----------------------------

             THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED
              BY THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION NOR HAS THE
               COMMISSION PASSED UPON THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF
                   THIS PROSPECTUS. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE
                         CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.
                          -----------------------------


                The date of this Prospectus is January 20, 1998.


<PAGE>



                              AVAILABLE INFORMATION

         The  Company  is  subject  to  the  informational  requirements  of the
Securities  Exchange  Act of  1934  (the  "Exchange  Act")  and,  in  accordance
therewith,  files reports and other information with the Securities and Exchange
Commission  (the  "Commission").  Reports  and  other  information  filed by the
Company with the Commission  pursuant to the  informational  requirements of the
Exchange  Act may be  inspected  and copied at the public  reference  facilities
maintained by the Commission at Room 1024, 450 Fifth Street,  N.W.,  Washington,
D.C. 20549,  and at the following  regional  offices of the Commission:  75 Park
Place,  14th Floor, New York, New York 10007 and 500 West Madison Street,  Suite
1400, Chicago,  Illinois 60661. Copies of such material may be obtained from the
Public  Reference  Section  of  the  Commission  at  450  Fifth  Street,   N.W.,
Washington,  D.C. 20549, at prescribed  rates. The Common Stock is listed on the
Nasdaq National Market System and the Company's  reports,  proxy  statements and
other  information  may  also  be  inspected  at the  offices  of  the  National
Association of Securities Dealers, 1735 K Street, N.W., Washington D.C. 20007.

         Certain   reports  filed  with  the   Commission  by  the  Company  are
incorporated  herein by reference.  See "Documents  Incorporated  by Reference."
Except as specified  herein,  no other portions of such reports are incorporated
herein by reference and such other portions are not part of this Prospectus.

         This Prospectus omits certain information contained in the Registration
Statement  on Form S-3 filed with the  Commission  under the  Securities  Act of
1933, as amended (the  "Securities  Act") on November 1, 1994, File No. 33-56277
(the "Registration Statement"). The Company hereby undertakes to provide without
charge to each person to whom a copy of this Prospectus has been delivered, upon
his request,  a copy of the information that has been  incorporated by reference
into the  Registration  Statement  (other than exhibits to such documents unless
such exhibits are specifically incorporated by reference into the documents that
the Registration Statement incorporates). Requests should be directed to Whitney
Holding Corporation,  Attention: Edward B. Grimball, 228 St. Charles Avenue, New
Orleans, Louisiana 70130 or by telephone, (504) 586-7570.

                                        1

<PAGE>



                                   THE COMPANY

         The Company is a Louisiana bank holding company registered  pursuant to
the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956. The Company became an operating  entity in
1962 with Whitney National Bank ("WNB") as its only significant subsidiary. WNB,
which has its  headquarters  in  Orleans  Parish,  has been  engaged  in general
banking  business in the City of New  Orleans  since  1883.  WNB was  previously
located solely in Louisiana but, effective January 1, 1998, became a multi-state
bank by virtue of mergers with Whitney Bank of Alabama, Whitney National Bank of
Florida and Whitney  National Bank of Mississippi,  its affiliate banks. WNB has
93 branch offices located throughout southern  Louisiana,  the coastal region of
Mississippi,  Mobile,  Montgomery and the Alabama Gulf Coast,  and the Pensacola
area of Florida,  as well as an  international  branch in Grand Cayman,  British
West Indies.

         WNB engages in commercial and retail banking and in the trust business,
including the taking of deposits, the making of secured and unsecured loans, the
financing  of  commercial  transactions,  the  issuance  of  credit  cards,  the
performance  of  corporate,  pension and  personal  trust  services,  investment
services,  and safe deposit rentals.  WNB is also active as a correspondent  for
other banks. WNB renders  specialized  services of different kinds in connection
with all of the  foregoing.  All  material  funds of the Company are invested in
WNB.

         The  Company  and WNB and  their  related  operations  are  subject  to
federal, state and local laws applicable to banks and bank holding companies and
to the regulations of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System,  the
Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

               SELLING SHAREHOLDER AND SHARES THAT MAY BE OFFERED

         Except  for Shares  acquired  as a result of stock  dividends  or stock
splits,  the Shares offered hereby were contributed to the Seller Shareholder by
the  Company  prior to 1965 as part of the  Company's  retirement  benefits  for
employees of the Company and WNB. At January 16, 1998,  the Selling  Shareholder
owned  239,555  shares  of  Common  Stock,   representing  1.15%  of  the  total
outstanding  shares of Common  Stock.  If the Selling  Shareholder  sells 39,555
Shares pursuant to this  Prospectus,  the Selling  Shareholder  will own 200,000
shares  of  Common  Stock,  representing  less  than one  percent  of the  total
outstanding shares of Common Stock.

         The Selling  Shareholder  may sell up to 39,555 Shares pursuant to this
Prospectus in ordinary brokers'  transactions through the Nasdaq Stock Market at
the prices prevailing at the time of such sales. The commissions payable will be
the regular  commissions of brokers for affecting such sales.  Sales may also be
offered in block trades, private transactions or otherwise. The Company will pay
all expenses in preparing and reproducing this Prospectus,  but will not receive
any part of the proceeds of the sale of any Shares. The Selling Shareholder will
pay all  brokerage  commissions.  In  connection  with any  sales,  the  Selling
Shareholder  and any  brokers  participating  in such  sales may be deemed to be
underwriters within the meaning of the Securities Act.

         The  Company  will  supply  the  Selling  Shareholder  with  reasonable
quantities  of  prospectuses.  There  can  be no  assurances  that  the  Selling
Shareholder will sell any or all of the Shares offered by it hereunder.


                                        2

<PAGE>


                       DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

         The following documents,  which have been filed by the Company with the
Commission are incorporated herein by reference:

         (1) The Company's  Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended
December 31, 1993 filed pursuant to Section 13 of the Exchange Act.

         (2) The Company's  Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended
March 31, 1994 and June 30, 1994.

         (3) The  Company's Registration  Statement on  Form S-3 filed  with the
commission on November 1, 1994, filed No. 33-56277.

         (4) The  description  of the  Company's  capital stock set forth in the
Company's report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 19, 1996.

         All  reports  filed by the  Company  with the  Commission  pursuant  to
Sections  13, 14 or 15(d) of the  Exchange  Act  subsequent  to the date of this
Prospectus  and prior to the  termination  of the offering of the Shares offered
hereby shall be deemed to be incorporated by reference in this Prospectus and to
be made a part hereof from their respective dates of filing.

         Any  statement  contained  in a document  incorporated  or deemed to be
incorporated  by reference  shall be deemed to be modified or  superseded to the
extent that a statement  contained herein or in any other document  subsequently
filed or incorporated by reference herein modifies or supersedes such statement.
Any  statement  so  modified  or  superseded  shall not be deemed,  except as so
modified or superseded, to constitute a part of this Prospectus.

                                        3

<PAGE>
</TEXT>
</DOCUMENT>
</SEC-DOCUMENT>
-----END PRIVACY-ENHANCED MESSAGE-----