PRESS RELEASE - January 19, 2002

Other News: AAFM reaches Global Alliance with AACSB

News: Read our AAFM ™ Recognition, Listings and Disclosure

AAFM has been recognized in the following news journals: Beijing Times, Commercial & Business Time, Beijing Modern Business, www.qianlong.com, Bright News Daily, China Daily, China Youth Daiy, CEO and CIO Information Times, Financial News, China Securities News & China Insurance News.
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The Honorable Officials of The Chinese Government Recognized and Sanctioned The American Academy of Financial Management in an Exclusive Strategic Alliance and Partnership to Further Enhance Financial Wealth Management in China.

"This is a first in history where the largest government in the world has formed an alliance with a professional financial organization for Graduate Certification Training", Prof. Prof. Byrnes, M.F.P. Mas. Fin. Prof.

The American Academy of Financial Management (AAFM) further consolidated its position as a world-class financial certification body this week when its MFP - Master Financial Professional™ programs, along with six other financial industry certification programs, were approved by the Chinese government for nationwide launch throughout China.

The programs have now been officially adopted by the State Economic & Trade Commission's (SETC) own Training Centre for Economic Cadres (TCEC), for delivery across the Mainland. The SETC supports almost 40 individual training centers nationally and the first round of AAFM programmes has been scheduled to commence early in 2003.

On May 23rd, 2002, the SETC released an official letter announcing a mandate to provide medium and longer-term business management training to senior State Owned Enterprise (SOE) management personnel. Under that mandate, the SETC sought partners of globally recognized financial competency and certification providers to work with their training centers to improve SOE capability in the areas of financial reporting and management, corporate governance and accountancy best practice.

AAFM is the first US based financial professional body to have achieved partner status with the SETC for nationwide certification. The SETC will add their own "official stamp" and certificate to the US issued qualifications from the Academy. "To have achieved, not only official government recognition, but also to have entered into a direct partnership with a government entity is a clear advantage to our growing membership in the region", said Professor. Richard Petty, President of the Asian operation of the Academy. "It gives us the ability to build localized programs with strong relevance, in addition to boosting our existing global profile." Director Zhang Jiang of SETC's Training operations added, "Improving China's financial management and corporate governance is a key goal of our department. We believe that this initiative will further strengthen our nation's capabilities and global competitiveness."

"World class standards, strict membership requirements and high level involvement from our Chinese partners are sure to guarantee the success of our programs in China." Said Dr. George Mentz, President and General Counsel of AAFM globally. "We will be working hard over the coming months to ensure strong support for the Academy on the ground in China, along with activities to further establish our regional brand in the field of business education and financial certification." Early this year, the Wealth Management arm of AAFM launched a series of Financial Certification programs in Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.

Founded by US financial services industry experts and the Academic community in 1994, AAFM is the first and only independent financial membership body to have established direct ties with the government in China. With a not-for-profit Asian operations headquarters, the Academy aims at serving China's economic development and its financial sector by introducing the latest strategies and knowledge in international financial management.

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