Commerzbank Securities Announces Additions to Its New York Team.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 30, 2001

Commerzbank Securities announces that seven new hires have joined its New York Fixed Income team as part of the expansion strategy for the Americas. The U.S. staff of Commerzbank Securities is expected to grow by approximately sixty percent by year-end. The new hires are:

-- Marc James arrives as head of Fixed Income Corporate Marketing, Derivatives
Group. He will be responsible for marketing fixed income derivatives products
to corporations and will report to Joseph Mahfouz, head of Derivatives,
Americas. Joe Mahfouz commented, "Marc will be a terrific asset to our team
that now markets derivatives across all asset classes." James was previously
managing director for Corporate Fixed Income Derivatives Business at Bear
Stearns & Company.

-- Samuel J. Gottesman becomes head of Credit Sales, Fixed Income. He will
focus mainly on emerging markets and sub-investment grade products reporting to
Ricardo Pascoe, executive general manager of the Americas. Ricardo Pascoe says,
"This is a step forward for our American operations. Sam's twenty years
experience in all aspects of the credit markets, both trading and sales, will
add a new dimension to our capabilities." Gottesman joins from Bear Stearns &
Company where he was managing director and senior salesperson, Emerging
Markets.

-- Kaveh Taleghani will be head of Emerging Markets Trading. He will be
responsible for structured credit trading for emerging markets and report to
Ricardo Pascoe. Ricardo mentioned, "Kaveh's experience will help us to realize
our goals in the Americas." He was previously with ALCA Capital Management as
founder and principal portfolio manager.

-- Ariel M. Magendzo joins as credit structurer reporting to Kaveh Taleghani.
Magendzo was previously with ALCA Capital Management as founder and principal
portfolio manager.

-- Carmine R. Urciuoli joins as head of Investment Grade Trading. He will
report to Ricardo Pascoe. Ricardo stated, "Carmine's expertise expands our U.S.
capabilities to a new level. We are fortunate to have him on our team."
Urciuoli was previously with ABN-AMRO as managing director and head of
Investment Grade Bonds/Syndicate.

-- Armin Rothauser joins as trader for Structured Credit Products. He was
formerly with Deutsche Bank in Global Credit Derivatives-High Yield Trading.

-- Ashwin Kumar becomes head of Proprietary Trading, Fixed Income responsible
for proprietary fixed income portfolios. He was previously with NWI Management
LP, New York.

Ricardo Pascoe, managing director and executive general manager of Commerzbank Securities in the Americas, commented: "We are delighted to have attracted such outstanding talent to our team. This greatly enhances our American capabilities which will grow dramatically this year."

Commerzbank Securities is the fully integrated investment banking division of Commerzbank AG, one of Europe's leading banks with a strong position at the heart of the new Euro-zone. It utilizes access to Commerzbank's $384bn balance sheet (12/31/99) and, AA-/Aa3/A+ credit ratings from S&P, Moody's and Fitch IBCA. In the United States, Commerzbank Securities transacts business through Commerzbank Capital Markets Corporation, a wholly owned registered broker-dealer of Commerzbank AG. Commerzbank Capital Markets Corporation is a member of NYSE, NASD and SIPC.