News Release

WASHINGTON, D.C., August 7, 2007 – Three individuals -– William H. Heyman, William S. Jasien and Mark S. Shelton -- have been nominated by the President and confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as the newest directors of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC), which maintains a special reserve fund authorized by Congress to help investors at failed brokerage firms.

The three new SIPC directors are: William H. Heyman, vice chairman and chief investment officer (CIO), and a member of the Management Committee, of The Travelers Companies, Inc.; William S. Jasien, senior vice president, ING Financial Advisors LLC, and head of Business Development for various defined contribution business lines across North America; and Mark S. Shelton, managing director and general counsel, Wealth Management US, and co-global general counsel, Global Wealth Management & Business Banking, UBS.

SIPC Board Chair Armando J. Bucelo, Jr., said: “We are delighted to be joined in our work by three such outstanding new board members. They bring an unusually rich and diverse background of experience that will prove invaluable in our work on behalf of U.S. investors. We salute these individuals for agreeing to find the necessary time to put forth the considerable effort required to perform this important public service work.”

William H. Heyman is vice chairman and chief investment officer (CIO), and a member of the Management Committee, of The Travelers Companies, Inc. [NYSE: TRV], a major U.S. property and liability insurance company, and, in that role, responsible for a portfolio of public and private investments of over $70 billion. From August 2002 until August 2005, while it was a subsidiary of what was then called St. Paul Travelers, he was a director of Nuveen Investments, Inc. [NYSE: JNC]. Until March 15, 2002, Heyman was chairman of Citigroup Investments Inc., a subsidiary of Citigroup Inc., which managed most of Citigroup’s proprietary investments, and a member of the Citigroup Global Investment Policy Committee. From 1991 to 1993, he was director of the Division of Market Regulation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, D.C. In January 2005, Heyman was elected to the Board of Governors of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), which is now known as FINRA; he is a member of the FINRA board’s executive and investment committees and chairman of its corporate governance committee. Heyman lives in New York City.

William S. Jasien is a senior vice president of ING Financial Advisors LLC, and head of Business Development for a number of defined contribution business lines across North America. Previously, he held various headquarter positions including vice president of operations, chief administrative officer, and senior investment officer. Prior to joining ING in February 1993, Jasien worked for the former Bush Administration , serving in the following capacities: assistant secretary of The U.S. Treasury for Finance and Management; director of public affairs for the Oversight Board of the Resolution Trust Corporation; and budget director the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He lives in Clifton, VA.

Mark S. Shelton is managing director and general counsel, Wealth Management US, and co-global general counsel, Global Wealth Management & Business Banking, UBS. He joined UBS in May 2003 and is responsible for over 400 lawyers, compliance officers, and other professionals. The US Legal and Compliance Departments provide advice, surveillance, and training services, and act as control functions, for the Wealth Management businesses located in several broker-dealers, trust companies, UBS AG bank branches, and UBS Bank USA. Before joining UBS, Shelton was a partner at Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, an international law firm based in Washington, D.C. His practice focused on broker-dealer regulation and enforcement. Before joining Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering, Shelton worked in the Office of General Counsel at the SEC and clerked on the Federal Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit. He lives in New York City.

The three new SIPC directors replace outgoing board members Deborah D. McWhinney, Noe Hinojosa, Jr., and Thomas W. Grant.

About SIPC

The Securities Investor Protection Corporation is the investor's first line of defense in the event a brokerage firm fails owing customers cash and securities that are missing from customer accounts. From the time Congress created it in 1970 through December 2006, SIPC has advanced $505 million in order to make possible the recovery of $15.7 billion in assets for an estimated 626,000 investors. Although not every investor is protected by SIPC, SIPC 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 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.