Bear Stearns Expands Precious Metals Group Globally; Commodities Business Extends to 24-Hours with Hires in Europe and Asia

Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. announced today its precious
metals group has expanded to a global, full-service hard asset
business through several key hires and new product capabilities.
Since its formation in January, the precious metals group has
hired several experts to build the operation into a 24-hour,
client-driven business with trading and sales specialists in New York,
London and Hong Kong. To expand its transaction capabilities for
clients, Bear Stearns also became a member of the London Bullion
Market Association in April and the London Platinum and Palladium
Market in August. The firm is a full member of the Commodity Exchange,
Inc. and the Chicago Board of Trade.
"I am thrilled that we were able to jump-start the precious metals
business by using our foreign exchange infrastructure. Leveraging this
platform and the commitment we received from senior management has
allowed us to build a global business in a relatively short period of
time," said David Schoenthal, a senior managing director of Bear
Stearns and the head of Foreign Exchange and Metals. "Our new hires
will enable us to elevate to the next level."
Among the new hires, Robert Cameron joins Bear Stearns as a
managing director to head spot trading in New York. He was most
recently at Mitsubishi Metals Trading Corp. and has traded metals for
more than 15 years. Gary Spencer joins as managing director in charge
of options trading. He spent more than 15 years in commodity and FX
option trading at JP Morgan. Edward Bases joins as managing director
to run hedge fund sales. He was most recently at Deutsche Bank and has
more than 15 years of experience in the metals business. Charles
Bingham joins as a managing director for structured products and risk
management. He was head of commodities trading at JP Morgan and has
more than 20 years of experience in the field.
Bryan O'Rear has been named managing director to run options
trading and PGM group metals out of London. He recently joined from
Deutsche Bank in London. In addition, two new hires have joined the
precious metals effort in Hong Kong. David Wong formerly of AIG
Trading and JP Morgan will run marketing while Greg Fan joined from
Sun Hung Kai and Deutsche Bank will head trading.
"We are pleased that we were able to attract top-caliber
professionals who will provide our customers with innovative
approaches and efficient market execution," said Robert Gottlieb, a
managing director of Bear Stearns and the head of the Precious Metals
Group. "As our clients expand into the commodities markets, we will
leverage the resources at Bear Stearns to provide them with a hard
asset strategy including a diversified portfolio of metals and mining
equities, ETFs, futures, structured products and OTC commodity
positions."
The metals group focuses on gold, silver, platinum and palladium
transactions for clients, who are mainly comprised of central banks
and agencies, mining companies, multi-national corporations, mid-level
financial institutions and high net worth individuals in addition to
hedge, mutual and other investment funds. In addition to transacting
in the spot, forwards, options, swaps and structured products markets,
Bear Stearns recently became a major underwriter and trader of both
gold and silver Exchange Traded Funds on the New York Stock Exchange
and American Stock and Options Exchange.
Founded in 1923, Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. is a leading investment
banking and securities trading and brokerage firm, and the major
subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE:BSC). With
approximately $58.4 billion in total capital, Bear Stearns serves
governments, corporations, institutions and individuals worldwide. The
company's business includes corporate finance and mergers and
acquisitions, institutional equities and fixed income sales and
trading, securities research, private client services, derivatives,
foreign exchange and metals, and futures sales and trading, asset
management and custody services. Through Bear, Stearns Securities
Corp., it offers financing, securities lending, clearing and
technology solutions to hedge funds, broker-dealers and investment
advisors. Headquartered in New York City, the company has
approximately 12,500 employees worldwide. For additional information
about Bear Stearns, please visit the firm's website at
www.bearstearns.com.