Conor Michael Bowes

The Group's principal activities are to provide investment, financing, advisory, insurance and related products and services on a global basis. The Group's services includes securities brokerage, trading, insurance, record keeping and underwriting through its broker, dealer, banking, insurance and other financial services subsidiaries. The Group operates in three business segments: Global Markets and Investment Banking group, Global Private Client, and Merrill Lynch Investment Managers. The principal subsidiary of the Group is Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc., which provides securities brokerage, option contracts, commodity and financial futures contracts, selected insurance products, options, corporate and municipal securities, investment banking and business advisory services. The Group operates in Europe, Middle East, and Africa, Pacific Rim, Canada and Latin America. In 2005, the Group acquired Pax Clearing Corp, the advest Group and Amvescap Plc.

Polar Asset Management Partners, Inc. (Polar) is Canadian hedge fund manager headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. The firm was founded by J. Paul Sabourin in 1991 and is a subsidiary of Polar Financial Corp. Polar provides discretionary investment advice and management services to private investment funds, which may be organized as onshore or offshore limited partnerships or corporations, as well as separately managed accounts.