2001 News: Nasdaq’s Chief to Address Convention

2001 Annual Convention in New York: Nasdaq’s Chief, Frank G. Zarb, to Address Journalist Convention

Columbia, Mo., March 15, 2001— Frank G. Zarb, chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market, will address business journalists on Monday, April 30, during the 38th annual convention of the Society of American Business Editors and Writers, Inc. (SABEW) in New York City.

“The Nasdaq Composite Index is in one of its most persistent bear-market slides ever,” noted Byron Calame, a deputy managing editor of The Wall Street Journal and SABEW president. “We look forward to hearing from Frank Zarb about how his market is handling the pressure and about the early results from Nasdaq’s switch to decimal prices for stocks.”

Zarb, 66, also chairs the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), the self-regulatory organization for stockbrokers and dealers. He was named chief executive officer for NASD and Nasdaq in February 1997, shortly after a two-year investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission exposed widespread collusion and cheating of customers by Nasdaq-member dealers. Currently, the electronic market is in the process of becoming a publicly held corporation with a greater global reach.

Before joining NASD and Nasdaq, Zarb was chief executive officer of the insurance brokerage firm Alexander & Alexander Services Inc.

The SABEW convention, set for April 29 through May 1, in the New York Marriott World Trade Center hotel, will explore several urgent and provocative issues under the general theme, “Wall Street and the Real Economy.”

Lawrence Lindsey, assistant to President Bush for economic policy, will address the convention banquet on May 1. During the meeting, SABEW will honor winners of its annual writing and editing contests and present its annual distinguished achievement award to Allan Sloan, Wall Street editor of Newsweek magazine.

Practical session topics for business writers include assessing the state of the stock market and stock market coverage; tracking the use and abuse of executive compensation schemes; uncovering consumer privacy threats in electronic commerce; mining new census data; probing utility deregulation and power disruptions; analyzing venture capital for urban and rural communities; covering the workplace; understanding the immigrant economy; and exploring the business of philanthropy.

SABEW is a tax-exempt educational organization representing more than 3,000 print and electronic business journalists and based at the Missouri School of Journalism. For more information about SABEW and the convention, see the SABEW web site, www.sabew.org.

Contacts: Carolyn Guniss, SABEW executive director, 573-882-8985, or Bill Barnhart, financial markets columnist for the Chicago Tribune and SABEW convention chairman, 312-222-3599.