Nick H. Fothergill

RBC Europe Ltd. is the Great Britain-based broker/dealer subsidiary of RBC Europe Ltd., itself a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (TSE: RY) in Canada. Headquartered in London, the firm was founded in 1970 and provides a full spectrum of brokerage services specifically tailored for both retail and institutional investors. The firm is active in several markets, exchanges, and electronic trading platforms.

Nomura International Plc provides a variety of financial services including advisement, investment banking and asset management. It trades in and sells fixed income and equity products, including related derivatives; and provides investment banking services, and corporate finance and private equity services. The company is also involved in asset and principal finance business. It offers investment advisory and management, custody, and employment services. Nomura International was founded in 1981 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBI) is the London-based subsidiary of Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: LEH). Established in 1972, LBI provides trading and broking fixed-income financial instruments, money broking, corporate finance and stock broking services. Lehman Brothers was founded in 1850.

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Banc of America Securities (BAS) is the investment banking subsidiary of Bank of America Corp (NYSE: BAC). The firm provides both the domestic and international equity and investment banking markets, and pursues a strategy pioneered by Citigroup that combines corporate lending with investment banking advice and services. They provide high-yield debt underwriting and leveraged finance, in addition to industry coverage groups such as healthcare, media and telecom, financial institutions, real estate and gaming. BAS also does a significant amount of work for Financial Sponsors, or private equity firms, often financing leveraged transactions. Following the strategy of Goldman Sachs, the firm lacks a standalone mergers and acquisitions department, instead employing mergers and acquisitions senior bankers throughout the industry coverage groups. The firm is registered as a broker/dealer with the SEC, is a member of the NYSE, and the NASD. The use of Banc in the BAS's name is indicative of the fact that the company is not a bank, and their deposits and other holdings are not insured by the FDIC.