M.R. Beal Hires Public Finance Veterans Cheryl Ishmael and Robin Ginsburg as Managing Director and Senior Vice President

NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
M.R. Beal & Company, a leading investment banking firm specializing in municipal
finance, corporate finance and equity execution, announced today that Cheryl
Ishmael and Robin Ginsburg have joined the firm as senior members of its Public
Finance Department.

Ms. Ishmael primarily will be working with issuers in the areas of health care
and higher education and will broaden the firm`s coverage significantly in those
areas as well as the not-for-profit sector. In addition, she will assist in the
coverage of New York State issuers. Ms. Ginsburg`s focus will be on housing and
general infrastructure clients in New York State and around the country. They
are both based in New York.

Ms. Ishmael, with more than 25 years of public finance experience, most recently
served as an Administrator at Westchester Medical Center in New York.
Previously, she served for 13 years as Managing Director of Public Finance at
the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York, one of the nation`s largest
issuers of tax exempt debt. In addition, she worked in the private sector as a
public finance banker at Ramirez & Co., Lebenthal & Co., Inc., and Kidder
Peabody & Co.

Most recently, Ms. Ginsburg was Principal of the Public Finance Housing Group at
Banc of America Securities LLC where she worked on a range of single family and
multifamily financings for state and local housing authorities around the
country. Recently, she senior managed several high profile transactions for the
California Housing Finance Agency, the Connecticut Housing Finance Agency, the
Massachusetts Housing and the New York City Housing Development Corporation.

Previously, Ms. Ginsburg was Director of Municipal Finance at Financial Security
Assurance (FSA), where she successfully headed the marketing and development of
the firms housing finance capabilities. Ms. Ginsburg also worked for Ambac
Assurance Corp. and Financial Guarantee Insurance Company (FGIC).

Ms. Ishmael earned her Masters in Public Administration from the State
University of New York at Albany and a Bachelor of Arts from Syracuse
University. Ms. Ginsburg earned her Masters in Business Administration from
Fordham University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Clark University.

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 $40.3 billion of municipal underwritings in 2008 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
and Dallas.

Starkman & Associates
Jeff Richardson, 212-252-8545 ext. 11
jrichardson@starkmanassociates.com
or
James Cheston, 212-252-8545 ext. 22
jcheston@starkmanassociates.com

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