Prominent International Lawyer Howard Chao To Speak At Asia Society Conference in New York on China's Financial Markets

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Prominent International Lawyer Howard Chao To Speak At Asia Society Conference in New York on China's Financial Markets

NEW YORK, September 16, 2003 - Internationally prominent attorney Howard Chao of the law firm O'Melveny & Myers LLP will moderate and speak on a panel entitled "Cleaning Up the Banking System: Toward a Resolution of the NPL Problem" at the Asia Society's second annual daylong conference on China's financial markets, Investing in China's Financial Markets II: New Players in a Changing Investment Climate, to be held on Monday, September 22, 2003, at Asia Society, 725 Park Avenue (at 70th Street), in New York City. Joining Mr. Chao on his panel at 10:20 am are Yang Kaisheng, President, China Huarong Asset Management Corporation; Ma Wen, China CINDA Asset Management Corporation; and Ernest Napier, Managing Director, Standard and Poor's Corp.

Financial services executives, key officials from China, including Chinese securities regulator Laura Cha, who will give the luncheon keynote address, and leading economists will examine developments in China's financial markets in the almost two years since its entry into WTO. Investing in China's Financial Markets II: New Players in a Changing Investment Climate will assess the competitiveness of Chinese financial institutions, the impact of recently enacted market regulations and the new opportunities open to foreign institutional investors.

Additional panels will address the following topics: key developments in the past 12 months in China's financial markets; China's place in the international capital markets; China and its WTO to allow foreign financial institutions market access; and foreign institutional investors doing business in China.

Additional speakers from China include: Zhu Li, President, China Galaxy Securities Co. Ltd.; Hu Shuli, Managing Editor, Caijing Magazine; Wei Christianson, Managing Director Investment Banking Division - Beijing, Credit Suisse First Boston; Xu Xiaonian, Managing Director and Head of Research, China International Capital Corp.; and David Cheng, Head of Global Investment Banking, BOC International Ltd.

A complete list of speakers, updated program agenda and registration information is available on the web at: http://www.asiasociety.org/policy_business/index.html.

O'Melveny & Meyers LLP is the lead corporate sponsor of the conference. Corporate sponsors include Standard & Poor's and Shangri-la Hotels & Resorts, and Dow Jones is media sponsor.

O'Melveny & Myers LLP is a values-driven law firm, guided by the principles of uncompromising excellence, distinctive leadership and superior citizenship, with the breadth and depth to fully serve global clients. With more than 900 attorneys in 14 offices around the world, O'Melveny & Myers' capabilities span virtually every area of legal practice, including M&A/Private Equity; Capital Markets; Finance and Restructuring; Entertainment and Media; Intellectual Property and Technology; Trade and International Law; Labor and Employment; Litigation; White Collar and Regulatory Defense; Project Development and Real Estate; Securities; Tax; Transactions; and Bankruptcy.

O'Melveny & Myers has the largest international law practice in Shanghai, which serves as the Firm's Asia Practice headquarters. In 2002, the Firm was one of the first international law firms to be granted permission by the Ministry of Justice to open a second office in China and opened an office in Beijing. O'Melveny & Myers was also one of the first U.S.-based firms to be fully licensed to practice Hong Kong law, opening an office there in 1994.

To learn more about O'Melveny & Myers, please visit: http://www.omm.com/