News Release

SIPC BOARD CHAIRMAN NAMED AS ONE OF LEADING HISPANICS IN THE UNITED STATES

Miami Attorney, Miami Dade Community College Trustee Featured on List of "Top 100 Most Influential Hispanics"

WASHINGTON, D.C. - October 30, 2006 - The Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) announced today that SIPC Chairman of the Board Armando J. Bucelo, Jr., a Miami attorney, was selected as one of the “Top 100 Most Influential Hispanics” in the U.S. by Hispanic Business magazine. The magazine is recognizing Bucelo for his role as chairman of the SIPC board.

The Hispanic Business magazine list, which ranges from powerful executives to celebrities, is featured in the current October 2006 issue of the magazine. The full list is available online at http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?id=46457&cat=Magazine&more=/magazine/.

Named as SIPC chairman in January 2006, Bucelo is both the first Hispanic and first Floridian to so serve his nation. He was appointed by President Bush as a director of SIPC in 2002 and became vice chairman of the board in 2003. On July 14, 2006, Bucelo became the first Cuban-American to preside over the ringing of The Closing BellSM at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

SIPC Chairman Bucelo said: "I am honored to be chosen to be a part of such a remarkable group of Americans. I am proud to lead an organization like SIPC, which instills an investor confidence that is vital to the functioning of America’s capital markets. I thank Hispanic Business magazine for bestowing this recognition on me for my work with SIPC."

SIPC President Stephen Harbeck said: "American investors and the Securities Investor Protection Corporation have benefited tremendously from Chairman Bucelo’s leadership. His skills at the helm of SIPC make it clear why Hispanic Business recognized him as one of the most influential Hispanics in the United States."

This is the second time Bucelo has been chosen for the Hispanic Business magazine honor, the first being in 1984.

In addition to his work with SIPC, Bucelo also serves on a number of other boards, including that of the National Housing Development Corporation, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to: preserving affordable housing in partnership with local communities; empowering individuals; and revitalizing communities. He was appointed by the governor of Florida to serve as a trustee of the board of directors of Miami Dade Community College and has served in that capacity since 1999. Bucelo also was a director of Freddie Mac under the George H.W. Bush administration.

He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors for his extensive civic activities. Born in Havana, Cuba, Bucelo received his B.S. and J.D. from the University of Miami. He is a member of the Florida Bar and the Inter-American Bar. Bucelo is admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court of the United States as well as various United States Tax and District Courts.

ABOUT SIPC

From the time Congress created it in 1970 through December 2005, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (http://www.sipc.org) advanced $585 million in order to make possible the recovery of $14.2 billion in assets for an estimated 624,000 investors. Although not every investor is protected by SIPC, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation estimates that no fewer than 99 percent of persons who are eligible have been made whole in the failed brokerage firm cases that it has handled to date.

SIPC either acts as trustee or works with an independent court-appointed trustee in a brokerage insolvency case to recover funds. The statute that created SIPC rules provides that customers of a failed brokerage firm receive all non-negotiable securities that are already registered in their names or in the process of being registered. At the same time, funds from the SIPC reserve are available to satisfy the remaining claims of each customer up to a maximum of $500,000. This figure includes a maximum of $100,000 on claims for cash.

CONTACT: Ailis Aaron Wolf, The Hastings Group, (703) 276-3265 or aaaron@hastingsgroup.com.