Rick Lazio Named President and Chief Executive Officer of the Financial Services Forum.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 2, 2001

Former New York Congressman to Lead Public Policy Group

Rick Lazio, who represented New York's 2nd Congressional District for eight years, has been named president and chief executive officer of the Financial Services

Mr. Lazio will be responsible for the overall operations of the Forum and for coordinating activities with relevant industry-specific organizations. He succeeds George J. Vojta, formerly vice chairman of Bankers Trust Corp., who served as the Forum's first president. Mr. Vojta will continue to serve on the board of directors of the Forum.

Mr. Vojta, having successfully completed the start-up and initial activity phases of the Financial Services Forum, has been, and will become, more involved in the effort to establish global standards or "best practices" as the key to improving the global financial system. With the appointment of Mr. Lazio, Mr. Vojta will exercise director-level oversight on certain of the Forum's projects including the Forum's interface with the global standards movement.

Mr. Lazio was Deputy Majority Whip and later the Assistant Majority Leader in the U.S. House of Representatives and served on both the Commerce and Banking Committees. In Congress, Mr. Lazio was an advocate for financial services modernization, expanded retirement savings opportunities and pension reform. He was the author of legislation to reform the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934 and reduce transaction fees paid by securities brokers.

"It is an honor to work with the members of the Forum," said Mr. Lazio. "It is also a great opportunity for me to continue to work for financial services modernization in this country and advance the goal of open and competitive financial markets here and around the globe."

Lazio was selected by the members of the Forum which includes the chief executive officers of AIG, Allstate, American Express, Bank of America, Bank of New York, Bank One, Citigroup, Edward Jones, Fidelity, First Union, FleetBoston, GE Capital, The Goldman Sachs Group, Household International, J.P. Morgan Chase, Merrill Lynch, MetLife, Morgan Stanley, Prudential, State Street, and USAA.

Philip J. Purcell, chairman and chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley, and chairman of the Forum, said, "Rick Lazio brings to the Forum a unique combination of leadership, political experience and understanding of the financial services industry. He has been a steadfast friend of investors and savers and I look forward to his enthusiasm and his ideas."

William B. Harrison, chairman and chief executive officer of J.P. Morgan Chase and vice chairman of the Forum, said, "As the only member of the House of Representatives to serve simultaneously on both the Commerce and the Banking Committees, Rick Lazio worked hard to reform the federal statutes that affect everyone in the financial services industry. He is the right person to speak on behalf of diversified financial firms and increase understanding of the forces reshaping our industry."

About The Financial Services Forum

The Financial Services Forum was formed by the chief executive officers of the leading U.S. diversified financial services companies to focus on key public policy issues affecting the financial services industry. As the only organization composed solely of the chief executives of its member companies, the Financial Services Forum complements the activities of traditional industry-specific trade associations. The Financial Services Forum's permanent headquarters will be in Washington, D.C.