Autorite des Marches Financiers, French Financial Markets Regulator, Approves Business Wire to...

PARIS -- Business Wire has been officially recognized by the Autorite des Marches Financiers [AMF], the French financial markets regulator, as an approved regulatory disclosure service in France, Michael Becker, vice president, global disclosure and financial reporting services, announced today.

Business Wire is the only global commercial newswire on the AMF list; Business Wire maintains dedicated disclosure networks in all major European financial markets, including France, the United Kingdom and Germany.

"Business Wire's decision to operate its own disclosure networks throughout the European Union, coupled with its comprehensive worldwide media and investor relations networks, means that we are uniquely positioned to offer seamless distribution to all target audiences," said Becker. "Tremendous fragmentation exists among competitive services in the 27 EU Member States. Business Wire has clearly differentiated itself in the EU marketplace by providing an efficient one-stop solution for European companies seeking to reach global financial and consumer markets."

In addition to reaching designated disclosure media, Business Wire's "Best Practices" network includes pan-European media distribution via the networks of Agence France-Presse and The Associated Press, full-text carriage by the leading financial information providers, e.g. Bloomberg and Reuters, and online postings to leading portals, including lefigaro.fr, lycos.fr and yahoo.fr.

Business Wire's patented "NX" news delivery platform provides for the multilingual transmission of market-moving information to multiple markets. Business Wire also provides multilingual distribution via a range of new media applications, including RSS feeds, its own proprietary PressPass system, and local-language postings to the largest network of pan-European online sites in the industry.

As part of the AMF approval process, Business Wire successfully completed a technical and operational audit by one of the world's leading independent accounting firms. Business Wire undergoes a similar annual audit in the United Kingdom, to comply with the rigid requirements of Financial Services Authority [FSA], the UK markets regulator.

About Business Wire

Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is utilized by thousands of member companies and organizations to transmit their full-text news releases, regulatory filings, photos and other multimedia content to journalists, news media, trade publications, institutional and individual investors, financial information services, regulatory authorities, Internet portals, information web sites, business-to-business decision-makers and consumers worldwide. With a news distribution network spanning 150 countries and 45 languages, Business Wire's multi-channel delivery network, has access to some 60 international and national news agency networks throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The Business Wire news network is powered by its patented NX high-speed data platform and supports XML, XHTML and XBRL code to deliver the most sophisticated news file to enhance news release interactivity, customization and search engine optimization. Business Wire has 30 bureaus in cities including New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Miami, Paris, Frankfurt, London, Brussels, Tokyo and Sydney with reciprocal offices throughout the world. Business Wire was founded in 1961 by Chairman Lorry I. Lokey, veteran journalist and public relations executive. Cathy Baron Tamraz is president and CEO.