World's Top Financial Experts to Convene in Europe for Wall Street Journal's Second...

World's Top Financial Experts to Convene in Europe for Wall Street Journal's
Second Future of Finance Initiative

NEW YORK, Oct. 16, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The editors of the Wall Street
Journal will convene over 100 leading international financial experts and policy
makers in the United Kingdom for the second Future of Finance Initiative, a
unique, open conference focused on the most urgent priorities for global
economic recovery. The Journal's Future of Finance Initiative is designed to
ensure that many perspectives are heard at this critical time, as governments
are in the midst of decisions that will redefine the international financial
system. The summit will be held Dec. 7-8, at the South Lodge Hotel in West
Sussex, United Kingdom.

This conference will bring together leading CEOs and financial executives, top
fund managers, officials from G-20 nations and prize-winning economists to
debate and ultimately agree on the priorities for international financial
regulation and coordination. The participants will work both as a group and
within four concurrent task force sessions, each facilitated by a top Wall
Street Journal editor, to address key financial issues in depth.

"The immediate crisis has passed, but decisions made now will have an enormous
impact on the future of the global financial system," said Robert Thomson,
managing editor of The Wall Street Journal and editor-in-chief of Dow Jones &
Company. "We chose to host the second Future of Finance Initiative in the U.K.
because the debate on reform is most intense in Europe. Given the exceptional
caliber of talent at this conference, the Journal will ensure that different
views on highly complex issues will be shared, discussed, refined and widely
respected."

An international group of editors from The Wall Street Journal will moderate the
discussions throughout the two-day meeting, including: Gerard Baker, deputy
editor-in-chief; Thorold Barker, editor, Heard on the Street column; Nikhil
Deogun, deputy managing editor; Stephen Fidler, European finance editor; Alan
Murray, deputy managing editor and executive editor, online; Robert Thomson,
managing editor and editor-in-chief, Dow Jones & Company; David Wessel,
economics editor; and Patience Wheatcroft, editor-in-chief, Europe.

This December session builds on the Journal's inaugural Future of Finance
Initiative held in Washington, D.C., in March, where participants included U.K.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, U.S. Treasury
Secretary Timothy Geithner, and private sector experts including Robert Rubin,
and Stephen Schwarzman.

Selected participants in the Journal's upcoming Future of Finance Initiative in
the United Kingdom include:

* Damon Buffini, chairman, Permira
* Rt Hon Alistair Darling, MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer
* Sir Howard Davies, director, London School of Economics and
Political Science
* Robert Diamond Jr., president, Barclays PLC & chief executive
officer, Investment Banking & Investment Management
* Richard Gnodde, co-chief executive officer, Goldman Sachs
International
* Anshu Jain, head of global markets and member of the Management
Board, Deutsche Bank
* Alessandro Profumo, chief executive officer, UniCredit Group
* Emmanuel Roman, co-chief executive officer, GLG Partners
* Roustam Tariko, chairman, Russian Standard
* Peter Sands, group chief executive, Standard Chartered Bank
* Myron Scholes, chairman, Platinum Grove Asset Management;
Nobel Laureate in Economics; Professor of Finance Emeritus,
Stanford University
* Eraj Shirvani, managing director, Credit Suisse and chairman
of the International Swaps and Derivatives Association
* George Soros, chairman, Soros Fund Management, LLC
* Michael Spencer, chief executive officer, ICAP plc
* Paul Volcker, chairman, President's Economic Recovery
Advisory Board Former Chairman, U.S. Federal Reserve
The results of the second Future of Finance Initiative will be published in a
Journal Report on Dec. 14. For more information and an expanded list of
participants at The Wall Street Journal Future of Finance Initiative, please go
to http://futurefinance.wsj.com.

About The Wall Street Journal

Founded in 1889, The Wall Street Journal, the flagship publication of Dow Jones
& Company is the world's leading business publication and holds 33 Pulitzer
Prizes for outstanding journalism. The Wall Street Journal has a print and
online circulation of more than 2 million, reaching the nation's top business
and political leaders, as well as investors across the country. The Wall Street
Journal boasts the largest individually paid circulation out of the top 25 U.S.
newspapers. Other publications that are part of The Wall Street Journal
franchise, with a global audience of 3.8 million, include The Wall Street
Journal Asia and The Wall Street Journal Europe. The Wall Street Journal Online
at WSJ.com is the leading provider of business and financial news and analysis
on the Web with more than one million subscribers and 26 million users per
month. WSJ.com is the flagship site of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network,
which also includes MarketWatch.com, Barrons.com and AllThingsD.com. In 2009,
the Journal was ranked No. 1 in BtoB's Media Power 50 for the 10th consecutive
year. The Wall Street Journal Radio Network services news and information to
more than 350 radio stations in the U.S.

The Wall Street Journal logo is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2641

-0-
CONTACT: Dow Jones & Company
Media Contacts:
Emily J. Edmonds
(212) 416-2635
emily.edmonds@dowjones.com
Kate Dobbin
+44-20-7842-9684
kate.dobbin@dowjones.com