Xinhua Finance Media Takes Steps to Enhance Corporate Governance
September 27 2007 - 7:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Adds Five New Directors, Creating a Majority Independent Board
Appoints Former PricewaterhouseCoopers Senior Manager as Internal
Auditor BEIJING, Sept. 27 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Xinhua
Finance Media ("XFMedia"; Nasdaq: XFML), China's leading
diversified financial and entertainment media company listed on The
NASDAQ Stock Market in March, today announced additional steps to
enhance the Company's corporate governance. These initiatives
include the appointment of four new independent directors and one
management director to the Board of Directors and the appointment
of an Internal Auditor. The new director appointments have
increased the size of Xinhua Finance Media's board to twelve
members, seven of whom are independent. The new directors are: --
Mr. David Olson -- partner of The Yucaipa Companies, former
Chairman and CEO of Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette's Asia Pacific
region and Credit Suisse First Boston's Chairman of Investment
Banking, Asia Pacific -- Mr. Larry Kramer -- senior advisor,
Polaris Venture Partners; former president, CBS Digital Media;
former chairman, CEO and founder of MarketWatch, Inc. -- Mr. Steve
Richards - COO of Silver Pictures and co-president of Dark Castle
Entertainment, a division of Silver Pictures -- Ms. Li Shantong --
Senior research fellow and former Director General, Department of
Development Strategy and Regional Economy, Development Research
Center, the State Council, China -- Mr. Teddy Liu Weidong --
President of Advertising Group, Xinhua Finance Media Fredy Bush,
CEO and Chairman of Xinhua Finance Media, said, "Today's actions
implement many of the commitments we announced in May to enhance
our corporate governance policies, capabilities and structure.
These directors will make a significant contribution to our
business strategy and our continued efforts to ensure we meet a
high standard of governance." With the addition of these four new
independent directors, the Company complies with the requirement to
have a majority of independent directors, more than five months
ahead of the one year grace period allowed under Nasdaq rules. New
Internal Auditor XFMedia has appointed its Internal Auditor, Mr.
Henry Heung-Ming Wong, to lead audit projects for the company and
its subsidiaries, reporting to and directed by the Board's audit
committee. Mr. Wong, a CPA and a CIA, has more than 13 years of
experience in establishing and maintaining proper internal control
procedures and financial reporting structures for leading public
companies. While serving at PricewaterhouseCoopers China, he
performed a significant number of Sarbanes-Oxley projects for
various companies, including a public media company and several
foreign private issuers. He also played a significant internal
audit role in a public utility company and a fast-moving consumer
goods company. Prior to that, he worked for Deloitte Touche
Tohmatsu and Deloitte and Touche Corporate Finance. Photo link for
Henry Wong: http://www.xinhuafinancemedia.com/HenryWong . Please
see the biographies of the new directors in appendix. For more
information on the board members, please visit
http://www.xinhuafinancemedia.com/en/our-company/board-and-management/board-
of-directors/ . Appendix -- Biographies of New Directors Mr. David
Olson Independent Director Photo link:
http://www.xinhuafinancemedia.com/DavidOlson . Mr. David Olson is a
partner of The Yucaipa Companies, an investment firm with holdings
in Asia, Europe and the Americas, that has established a record of
fostering economic value through the growth and responsible
development of companies. He has over 20 years of Wall Street
experience particularly in investment banking and M&A.
Previously, Mr. Olson served as Chairman and CEO of Guggenheim
Merchant Banking, the private equity arm of Guggenheim Capital in
New York and Chicago. Mr. Olson has also served as Chairman of
Investment Banking for the Asia-Pacific region at Credit Suisse
First Boston, and Chairman and CEO of Donaldson, Lufkin &
Jenrette's Asia-Pacific region. Mr. Olson holds a JD from
Northwestern University School of Law, where he serves on the Board
of Directors, and a BA from Wesleyan University, where he serves on
the Board of Trustees. Additionally, Mr. Olson is a vice-chairman
and an executive committee board member for the Rehabilitation
Institute of Chicago. Mr. Larry Kramer Independent Director Photo
link: http://www.xinhuafinancemedia.com/LarryKramer . Mr. Larry
Kramer is senior advisor at Polaris Venture Partners, a national
venture capital firm that invests in seed, early stage, and growth
equity businesses in the technology, life science, digital media,
enertech and consumer sectors. Mr. Kramer served as the first
president of CBS Digital Media and continues to serve as an advisor
to CBS today. Prior to joining CBS, Mr. Kramer was Chairman, CEO
and Founder of the financial website MarketWatch, Inc., which was
launched in 1997 as a joint venture between CBS and Data
Broadcasting Corp. Mr. Kramer led MarketWatch through three
acquisitions, an initial public offering, and a sale to Dow Jones
& Co. in 2005. Previously, Mr. Kramer spent 20 years in
journalism as an award-winning reporter and editor. As a
journalist, he won several awards for reporting, including the
National Press Club Award and The Gerald Loeb award for business
reporting; his staffs won two Pulitzer Prizes. Mr. Kramer holds an
MBA from Harvard University and a BA in journalism and political
science from Syracuse University. Mr. Steve Richards Independent
Director Photo link:
http://www.xinhuafinancemedia.com/SteveRichards Mr. Steve Richards
is COO of Silver Pictures, a film production company founded by
film producer Joel Silver and affiliated with Warner Bros., and co-
president of Dark Castle Entertainment, a division of Silver
Pictures. Formerly CFO of Silver Pictures, Mr. Richards began his
relationship with Joel Silver and Silver Pictures in 1995. He was
instrumental in developing the $450 million business plan for Dark
Castle and in forging a financial partnership with CIT Group Inc.,
which will finance the production of 15 films over the next six
years. Mr. Richards began his career in film production and
distribution as controller for the International Movie Group, a
publicly listed company. Subsequently, he helped launch Scott Free,
a production company founded by renowned directors Ridley and Tony
Scott. Mr. Richards obtained his CPA in 1992 after working for
Arthur Andersen in Los Angeles with a focus on the entertainment
industry. He holds an MBA from UCLA's Anderson School and a BA from
Temple University. Ms. Li Shantong Independent Director Photo link:
http://www.xinhuafinancemedia.com/LiShantong . Ms. Li Shantong is a
senior research fellow and former Director General, Department of
Development Strategy and Regional Economy at the Development
Research Center (DRC) of State Council, PRC, and Vice President of
the Academic Committee of the China Development Research Foundation
affiliated to the DRC. She is also a member of the National
Committee of Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Ms. Li holds Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Mathematics from
Peking University. Mr. Teddy Liu Weidong Non-independent Director
Photo link: http://www.xinhuafinancemedia.com/TeddyLiu . Mr. Teddy
Liu Weidong is President of Advertising Group, Xinhua Finance Media
and also Chief Executive Officer of Xinhua Finance Advertising
Limited, the successor of Ming Shing International Limited which
Xinhua Finance Media acquired in 2006. Prior to joining Ming Shing
International Limited, Mr. Liu worked as a business manager in
Beijing Sangxia Advertising from January 1997 to January 2005, and
as a business manager in Beijing Sunshine Advertising from January
1994 to December 1996. Mr. Liu holds a B.A. degree in garden design
from China Agriculture University. About Xinhua Finance Media
Limited Xinhua Finance Media ("XFMedia"; Nasdaq: XFML) is China's
leading diversified financial and entertainment media company
targeting high net worth individuals nationwide. The company
reaches its target audience via TV, radio, newspapers, magazines
and other distribution channels. Through its five synergistic
business groups, Advertising, Broadcast, Print, Production and
Research, XFMedia offers a total solution empowering clients at
every stage of the media process and keeping people connected and
entertained. Headquartered in Beijing, the company has offices and
affiliates in major cities of China including Beijing, Shanghai,
Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong. For more information, please
visit http://www.xinhuafinancemedia.com/ . Safe Harbor Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These
statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as
"will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans,"
"believes," "estimates," 'confident' and similar statements. Among
other things, quotations from management in this announcement
contain forward-looking statements. Statements that are not
historical facts, including statements about XFMedia's beliefs and
expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in
any forward-looking statements. Potential risks and uncertainties
are risks outlined in XFMedia's filings with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission, including its registration statement on
Form F-1. All information provided in this press release is as of
the date hereof, and XFMedia undertakes no duty to update such
information, except as required under applicable law. For more
information: Xinhua Finance Media, China Joy Tsang Tel:
+86-21-6113-5999 Email: DATASOURCE: Xinhua Finance Media CONTACT:
Media Contact, Ms. Joy Tsang of Xinhua Finance Media, +86-21-
6113-5999, or Web Site: http://www.xinhuafinancemedia.com/
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