Cohen & Company Expands Operations to Asia; Appoints Taro Masuyama President of Cohen Asia.

Signals Cohen & Company's Next Phase of Growth and Expansion

PHILADELPHIA -- Cohen & Company, a leading structured credit investment management firm with over $30 billion in assets under management, today announced the establishment of Cohen Asia, the firm's new asset management business in the Asia Pacific markets. As part of this expansion, effective immediately, the firm also announced the appointment of Taro Masuyama as President of Cohen Asia, reporting directly to Chris Ricciardi, Chief Executive Officer of Cohen & Company.

Initially, Cohen Asia will focus on building Asian fixed-income asset management operations with an emphasis on offering credit investments with a superior value proposition. Towards this end, Cohen Asia will leverage Cohen & Company's sophisticated financing platform as well as its established global network. The firm will also actively explore expansion of the Cohen Asia team and broadening its business activities in the Asia Pacific region over time.

Prior to his appointment as President of Cohen Asia, Mr. Masuyama, age 41, served as Managing Director and Head of Asia Pacific Structured Credit Products at Merrill Lynch, where he worked for seven years. His responsibilities included management and oversight of Merrill Lynch's market-leading CDO business in Asia Pacific, which originated cash and synthetic CDOs backed by Japanese and other Asian assets, and also marketed Merrill Lynch's global CDO products to institutional and high-net worth individual investors throughout the region.

During his tenure at Merrill Lynch, Mr. Masuyama was also Head of Japan Credit Sales and Marketing, which was responsible for the distribution of broader credit products in Japan. He also managed integrated Structured Credit Products and Structured Finance groups to better utilize structuring resources across Asia. Mr. Masuyama and his team originated and executed numerous transactions in excess of $40 billion, including some of the largest and most innovative transactions, resulting in awards from IFR, Thomson Dealwatch, Asiamoney, ISR, Finance Asia, Euroweek and Nikkei.

Prior to joining Merrill Lynch in April 1999, Mr. Masuyama was a Vice President of Global Credit Derivatives at Bankers Trust in New York, where for five years he provided various structured balance-sheet solutions primarily to Japanese banks. Mr. Masuyama was also a management consultant at Andersen Consulting at Tokyo, Chicago and Los Angeles, where he helped multinational corporations streamline their headquarters functions.

Chris Ricciardi, Chief Executive Officer of Cohen & Company, said, "Taro is an extremely well-known and well-regarded figure in the global structured credit markets, and we are delighted to welcome him to our firm. Taro's decision to join Cohen & Company and head our new Asia business is a key step forward for our entire organization, and a validation of our rapidly growing strength in the worldwide structured credit and fixed-income asset management space. It is also a signal of the beginning of our firm's next phase of growth and expansion, after what has been an extremely successful previous year.

"Having worked alongside Taro for several years in building Merrill Lynch's highly successful Asian structured credit business, I believe that there is no better person to seek to replicate the success that we have enjoyed in the U.S. and Europe in the Asian market, and best serve our targeted clients and investors in this region. We see great potential for CDO asset management in Asia, and we believe that there is demand for an asset manager with the product and service offerings and track record for value creation that we possess."

Taro Masuyama, President of Cohen Asia, said, "I am very excited to join Cohen & Company, which I believe is rapidly establishing itself as one of the premier forces in the structured credit business. It is a pleasure to re-join Chris Ricciardi and others that I worked alongside at Merrill Lynch. While I was with Merrill Lynch, I also worked with Daniel Cohen, Chairman of the firm, as well as other key members of the firm through a number of transactions. I have tremendous respect for their vision, wealth of talent and dynamic culture. I believe they have a uniquely positioned business model, and the right strategy to bring the firm to the next level. I look forward to working closely with Daniel, Chris and their senior management team in continuing their strong progress."

Mr. Masuyama holds a BA from Waseda University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

About Cohen & Company

Cohen & Company is a leading structured credit investment management firm with over $30 billion in assets under management in collateralized debt obligations and other funds across multiple asset classes. With offices in Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles and Paris, Cohen & Company employs over 130 employees worldwide, and serves a diverse international network of institutional and individual clients. For more information about Cohen & Company, we encourage you to visit www.cohenandcompany.com.