Provident Group's Managing Director, Jeff Smith, to Speak at GoldenNetworking.com's Private Equity Leaders Forum 2009, Buying a Failed Bank

New York, NY, December 05, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Jeff Smith, Managing Director with Provident Group, a private investment bank specialized in advising middle market companies on capital raising and business sales, will speak at Private Equity Leaders Forum 2009, "Buying a Failed Bank: Opportunities and Pitfalls" (http://www.PrivateEquityLeadersForum.com), on December 11th, New York City. Top level private equity and banking executives, investors, bankers, lawyers, consultants and professionals in general are making Private Equity Leaders Forum 2009 their source of information for the issues and challenges surrounding buying or making a significant investment at failed banks.

Mr. Smith is responsible for the financial institutions and M&A practice at his firm. Prior to joining Provident Group in 2009, Mr. Smith was a Global Sector Head responsible for Corporate and Investment Banking for Non-Bank Financial Institutions at HSBC and was head of that firms U.S. Financial Institutions Group. While at HSBC, Mr. Smith was also Senior Advisor to the U.S. CEO for strategic acquisitions and divestitures. Prior to joining HSBC in 2004, Mr. Smith was Global Head of Specialty Finance Investment Banking at Morgan Stanley. During Mr. Smith’s 30-year Wall Street career he has advised on more than 60 M&A transactions, including 19 bank mergers and more than 30 transactions involving non-bank financial institutions. He has extensive experience in leading capital market transaction across the spectrum ranging from IPO's (in recent years, transactions for both Visa and Mastercard), to highly structured transactions for companies such as General Electric Capital Corp., and has advised fortune 50 companies on joint ventures in the emerging markets. During the credit crisis of 1998-1999, Mr. Smith advised numerous market funded companies on survival strategies when the U.S. ABS markets were disrupted, and is presently involved with a number of companies facing difficulties due to the global economic crisis. Mr. Smith holds a BA from St. Lawrence University and an MBA from Columbia Business School.

Sponsors are invited to contact GoldenNetworking.com by sending an email to info@goldennetworking.com to receive Private Equity Leaders Forum 2009's Sponsorship Package. This forum is produced by GoldenNetworking.com, the premier networking community for businessmen, entrepreneurs, professionals and diplomats, to experience what’s hot, new and next. GoldenNetworking.com has been frequently featured in the press, including a recent article in The New York Times, "GoldenNetworking.com Helps Job Seekers Make Overseas Connections" (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/07/nyregion/07network.html).

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