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24 June 2009 EFG-US-20090624-1 MEDIA ANNOUNCEMENT

Media Contact Jeff Mustard

EurOrient Financial Group 818-206-5322

jeff.mustard@eurorient.org

Ron Nechemia, Chairman of EurOrient Financial Group, Authors White Paper Included as “Input Document” for the UNCTAD Public Symposium: The Global

Economic Crisis and Development – The Way Forward, Geneva, Palais.

LOS ANGELES, CALIF.: 24 June 2009 – The United Nations Council on Trade and

Development (“UNCTAD”) convened UNCTAD member States at its first public symposium to provide a

forum to discuss “The global economic crisis and development – the way forward.” Organized in

collaboration with the United Nations Non-Governmental Liaison Service and with other partner

organizations, the Symposium provided a platform for people and organizations whose perspectives have

not been heard enough in the debate on the causes and effects of the current global financial turmoil, and to

debate what policy changes are needed to avoid such a crisis in the future.

Mr. Ron Nechemia is the founding father of private sector development, the founder and Chairman

of the Board of EurOrient Financial Group, and a permanent representative to the United Nations,

responded to UNCTAD’s call for action regarding “inputs” to the forthcoming session with the submission

of a White Paper, “Asset Securitization: Revolution, Evolution, Devolution. The Rise and fall of the Most

Important Financial Instrument in Banking.”

• The global economic crisis – its causes and its multiple impacts;

The paper addressed one of the key topics debated at the 18-

19 May 2009 symposium, that included:

• Assessing existing responses to the crisis at the international, regional and national levels –

limitations and best practices; and

• Proposals for the way forward – obstacles and opportunities.

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The United Nations Council on Trade and Development Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi

said "It is imperative that we understand the crisis in all its dimensions and have the concerted effort of all

the different players if we are to ease the effects and protect the innocent bystanders."

More than 360 representatives from civil society, the private sector, labour organizations, academia

and research institutes, as well as parliamentarians and member States, joined UNCTAD, the International

Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs

A scholar, author and widely regarded international political economist and a development banker

who has presented his ideas and forward thinking strategies on global finance at the highest levels of both

business and government, Mr. Nechemia is recognized as a foreign financial expert by the State

Administration of Foreign Experts, and the People’s Republic Of China among many other foreign

governments. He has been invited to advise and lecture on behalf of governments such as the United States

of America, Republic of the Philippines, the People's Republic of China, South Korea, and the State of

California Department of Energy, to name a few.

(DESA) to

discuss the impacts of the crisis, the responses, and ways forward.

Highlights of Mr. Nechemia’s White Paper Submission on Asset Securitization

Mr. Nechemia’s work addresses the global financial crisis by providing a historical account of the

myriad factors that collided like the “perfect storm” to throw the world into economic calamity. Mr.

Nechemia explains the creation and evolution of the-then revolutionary Asset Securitization product and

the various permutations the product morphed into since first being introduced into the United States

banking and credit system in the 1970s. He argues how it enabled the unprecedented growth of markets in

both the U.S. and abroad, set new benchmark standards of innovation and productivity, credit enhancement

and risk analysis, but in the end, left unchecked and to open market devices, is what he suggests,

contributed greatly to the U.S. financial collapse.

Mr. Nechemia’s work explains how the recent experience in the subprime market illustrates the

costs and benefits of financial innovation in an environment of shifting asset price dynamics. Furthermore,

asset securitization made the financial system more resilient at the expense of undermining the

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effectiveness of consumer protection regulation. In recent months, lending standards have tightened and

ratings models are being strengthened, but subprime credit is still readily available—at a price.

Among many clear, concise and coherent recommendations for improvements to the world’s

financial architecture, he offers the following: “Today, many measures are required to repair what has

become a badly damaged international financial system and proven dysfunctional financial architecture.

For example, when considering future policy changes, regulators and lawmakers need to balance carefully

the need to limit future predatory lending excesses, while preserving a model that has successfully

dispersed losses from higher-risk mortgages away from the banking system and maintaining the ability of

stretched but viable subprime borrowers to refinance when confronted with reset payment consumer

protection in an originate-to-securitize financial system.”

The Symposium was chaired by Mr. Dian Triansyah Djani, President of the UNCTAD Trade and

Development Board, and was opened by the Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi.

The outcome of the two-day gathering was forwarded to the President of the United Nations General

Assembly and to the United Nations Conference on the World Financial and Economic Crisis and Its

Impact on Development

About EurOrient

, scheduled for the June 24 - 26 in New York. The symposium concluded with a

call for an inclusive response to the global economic downturn that will reform the international financial

system, protect developing countries and the poor, and supply funding and effort to maintain and create

jobs in the face of the global economic crisis.

EurOrient Financial Group is a private sector global development finance institution accredited by United

Nations General Assembly on Financing for Development. The mission of the EurOrient Financial Group

is to support the economic and social development efforts of the less developed countries as they, in

particular, seek to achieve the Millennium Development Goals ("MDGs").

The EurOrient's principal objective is to reducing poverty and promoting sustainable economic growth.

EurOrient invests in projects and programs that promote social development, build human capacities, and

address host government priorities for investments in physical infrastructure that promote and enhance

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social development. These projects include roads, transportation and communication systems, water,

sanitation and other types of investments with social development outcomes such as improved quality of

life and increased human knowledge and skills.

Since being founded more than 20 years ago, EurOrient Financial Group today seeks to increase

substantially the development impact of its activities by adopting new approaches in pursuit of its five

strategic priorities; they are: (i) strengthening the focus on frontier markets, including small and medium

enterprises (SMEs), this includes infrastructure finance; (ii) building long-term partnerships with emerging

players in developing countries; (iii) differentiating through sustainability competencies; (iv) addressing

constraints to private sector growth in infrastructure, agribusiness and advance technology; and (v)

developing local financial markets through institution building and the use of innovative financial

products.

EurOrient at Glance

Headquarters: Los Angeles, California

Website: www.eurorient.org

Contacts

CEO: Mr. Ron Nechemia

Media Contact: Jeff Mustard, Spokesperson for the President and the Chair Person of the Board of

Directors of the EurOrient Financial Group

Tel: 818-206-5322 - Email: jeff.mustard@eurorient.org

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