CEO announced for new Canadian Venture Exchange

(November 16 – 15:00ET) –
William L. Hess, Q.C., has been
appointed President and Chief
Executive Officer of the proposed
Canadian Venture Exchange. Mr. Hess
has been Chair of the Alberta
Securities Commission since
September 1992.

On Friday, November 26th,
members of the Alberta and
Vancouver Stock Exchanges will meet
to vote on the proposed merger of
the ASE and VSE to form Canadian
Venture Exchange Inc. The boards
of governors of the two exchanges
have recommended that their
respective members approve the
merger. The appointment of Mr.
Hess will become effective November
29th the formal date of the
proposed merger.

At the November 26th meeting, 14
member directors, six independent
directors and the President &
CEO will be appointed to the board
of directors of the proposed new
exchange.

Mr. Hess was appointed Chair of
the Alberta Securities Commission
in 1992. In his seven years at the
Alberta Securities Commission, he
led the Commission through
significant change, including its
transformation to an industry-
funded provincial corporation with
significantly enhanced fiscal,
managerial and operational
authority. At the national level,
Mr. Hess worked to improve
securities regulation and played a
leadership role in the development
of the new Canadian Securities
Regulatory System, which offers
market participants a more
efficient regulatory regime. As a
result of an accord between the
Alberta Securities Commission and
the BC Securities Commission,
Mr. Hess sat as a de facto member
of the BC Securities Commission.

Mr. Hess received his law
degree from the University of
Ottawa and was called to the bar in Ontario in 1979 and in Alberta in 1981. Prior to being appointed Chair of the Alberta Securities Commission, he practiced with a major law firm in Calgary where he was managing partner and headed the firm’s corporate finance department.