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M.R. Beal Hires Public Finance Expert Loren Carlson as Managing Director and Edward Chan as Vice President

Mr. Carlson joined the firm effective July 26, 2010 and will be based in his hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. Mr. Chan joined the firm effective August 4, 2010 and will be based in New York. Both are members of the firm's public finance department.

"Loren and Ed's experience and innovative thinking will most certainly help us execute more deals and grow our municipal business," said Bernard Beal, CEO of M.R. Beal & Company. "Additionally they will provide clients with the type of value-driven service they are accustomed to receiving at M.R. Beal."

With over 30 years of experience in public finance, Mr. Carlson is recognized as one of the foremost authorities on public and structured finance strategies. He will open M.R. Beal's Charleston, South Carolina office and will be responsible for developing new business and deal execution in the Southeastern region.

Previously, Mr. Carlson served as senior vice president at William R. Hough & Co., where he also served as a board member and member of the firm's executive committee. In 2003, RBC Dain Rauscher, a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada, acquired William R. Hough & Co., and Mr. Carlson went on to serve as managing director at RBC Capital Markets.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Carlson worked in the public finance and asset-backed divisions at various firms including Blythe Eastman, Paine Webber (currently UBS), Manufacturers Hanover Securities Corporation and Chemical Securities, Inc. (currently JP Morgan Chase).

Mr. Carlson is widely known for playing an instrumental role in helping to finance post-secondary education in the United States. He helped build the multi-billion dollar asset-backed security market in federal and private educational loans.

Mr. Carlson graduated from Drake University and received an MBA from Adelphi University. He has been a featured speaker at conferences of the National Council of Higher Education Loan Programs, the Education Finance Council, and the National Council of Development Finance Agencies.

As vice president, Mr. Chan will be concentrating his efforts at M.R. Beal on marketing, structuring, and the executing of both taxable and tax-exempt bond transactions. With over ten years of public finance experience, he has provided client coverage for some of the largest state and local government issuers including DASNY, the City of New York, the City of Chicago, the City of Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and the State of Connecticut.

He most recently served as vice president of Loop Capital Markets, where he provided expertise in deal structuring and execution, cash-flow modeling, credit analysis, and innovative solutions for municipal issuers. He also has considerable experience structuring transactions for a variety of credits, including tax-backed, utility, airport, lease revenue, tax-increment and tobacco-settlement bonds.

Mr. Chan holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics, magma cum laude, from Dickinson College. He volunteers his time as a board member and treasurer for the Bronx Resource Community Center, which assists youths and adults with job placement, computer skills, and GED preparation.

About M.R. Beal

Founded in 1988, M.R. Beal is a leading investment bank specializing in municipal and corporate finance, taxable and tax-exempt fixed income sales and trading, and equity sales and trading. Based in New York, the firm participated in $44 billion of municipal underwritings in 2009 and continues to rank among the top 20 underwriters of municipal securities worldwide. M. R. Beal & Company is one of the nation's oldest and most established minority-owned investment banking firms. The firm has participated in nine of the 11 largest IPO's in history, representing an equity volume exceeding $21 billion to date. M.R. Beal's institutional clients include a wide array of leading U.S. corporations, as well as state and local government and not-for-profit entities. In addition to its New York headquarters, M.R. Beal also has offices in Chicago, Sacramento, Dallas and Charleston, S.C.

Starkman & Associates
Jeff Richardson, 212-252-8545, ext. 11
jrichardson@starkmanpr.com
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James Cheston, 212-252-8545, Ext. 19
jcheston@starkmanpr.com