BNP Paribas Significantly Expands Its U.S. Mortgage Backed Securities Business with the Addition of Six Professionals and Announces the Planned Opening of Tysons Corner, Virginia Office.

NEW YORK -- BNP Paribas is pleased to announce the appointments of the following Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) professionals: Kevin Heal, George Livingston, Eric Salzman, Bill Poulos, Bill Ludmer, and Tim Coyne. They join the firm from Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC). This initiative, led by Zbigniew Ryzak, Head of Interest Rates Group, North America and Kip Testwuide, Head of Sales and Origination, represents the next phase in BNP Paribas' ongoing commitment to build a full-fledged U.S. mortgage business.

Kevin Heal joins as a Managing Director and Head of Sales for the Tysons Corner office. He reports to Vasan Varathan, Head of Sales, Interest Rates Group (IRG) for The Americas. Kevin worked at FHLMC since 2001 as an institutional sales manager. Prior to that, he spent four years at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York, most recently as a Managing Director in e-commerce mortgage sales. Previously he held positions at PaineWebber and Garvin Guy Butler.

George Livingston joins as a Director and an MBS salesperson in the Tysons Corner office and reports to Kevin Heal. He worked at FHLMC since 1998 as an institutional Fixed Income salesperson. Prior to that, he worked at McKeige and Company as an institutional Fixed Income salesperson and at Equity Mortgage Bank as an Executive Vice President.

Eric Salzman also joins as a Director in MBS sales in the Tysons Corner office reporting to Kevin Heal. At FHLMC he was an institutional sales representative responsible for marketing agency MBS products and strategy to institutional accounts. Prior to that, he worked at Bear Stearns New York as a Managing Director in the Fixed Income Derivatives group. Previously he worked at FHLMC as a Director in Market Risk and Strategy. Eric also worked at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Bankers Trust.

Bill Ludmer joins as a Director in MBS sales based in Tysons Corner and reports to Kevin Heal. He was a sales representative selling agency mortgage backed bonds at FHLMC since 2000. Prior to that, he spent three years at J.C. Bradford & Co. (now PaineWebber) in institutional sales. He has previously held a variety of positions at financial institutions including Gruntal & Co., Mabon Securities Inc. and Van Kampen Merritt Capital Markets Group.

Bill Poulos joins as a Director and an MBS Originator based in Tysons Corner. He reports locally to Kevin Heal and functionally to Avi Pemper, Head of Financial Institution Coverage within Fixed Income, in New York. Bill spent eighteen years at FHLMC; for the last thirteen he was an institutional sales representative.

Tim Coyne joins as a Director and an MBS Trader based in New York. He reports to Zbigniew Ryzak, Head of IRG, North America. Tim worked at FHLMC as a senior MBS trader and previously spent four years at Wachovia Securities.

Commenting on the appointments, David Brunner, CEO of BNP Paribas Securities Corp. said, "This initiative will significantly add to the strong rates platform we have in derivatives products, Treasuries, TIPS and Agencies. Mortgage Backed Securities now represents the most important area of ongoing development for our Interest Rate Group activity in the U.S."

About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas (www.bnpparibas.com) is a European leader in banking and financial services, with a significant and growing presence in the United Sates and leading positions in Asia. The most profitable bank in the Euro zone, it has a presence in 85 countries with 89,400 employees. The group enjoys key positions in Corporate and Investment Banking, Private Banking & Asset Management, Insurance, Securities Services and Retail Banking.

BNP Paribas provides a full array of financial products through a portfolio of brands that cover a variety of distribution channels. With offices in New York, BNP Paribas in North America offers a broad range of corporate, investment banking and securities brokerage activities. With locations in all the major corporate and financial centers across the United States and Canada, BNP Paribas in North America serves a world-class client base of multinational corporate and mid-cap companies, major issuers and institutional buyers. As a registered NASD broker-dealer and member of SIPC, BNP Paribas Securities Corp. trades and markets a vast array of global and domestic fixed income and equity products