Bear Stearns Hires Robert Sage to Strengthen European Banks Research

"Robert has seventeen years of experience as an analyst on the UKbanking sector and is very well regarded in the investor community,"said Roger Hirst, Director of European Equity Research at BearStearns. "His expertise and insight are exactly what we need tocontinue the growth of our franchise and we are delighted to have himon the team."

Prior to joining Bear Stearns, Mr. Sage was a partner and, afterits incorporation, a managing director at Cazenove & Co. Mr. Sagequalified as a chartered accountant and worked with Price WaterhouseCoopers as an accountant for five years, before joining Cazenove.

About Bear Stearns

Bear, Stearns International Limited is a wholly owned subsidiaryof The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE: BSC) BSIL currently employsapproximately 1,000 staff in London who serve corporations,institutions, partnerships and governmental entities in the UnitedKingdom, Europe and the Middle East. BSIL's capabilities includeinvestment banking, institutional equities and fixed income sales,trading and research, derivatives, financial futures, foreignexchange, private client services and global clearing. Bear, StearnsInternational Limited is authorised and regulated by the FinancialServices Authority.