BAI, Lafferty Group Announce Joint Conference Alliance for European Market.

CHICAGO and LONDON, Aug. 7 /PRNewswire/ --

Bank Administration Institute (BAI), the leading provider of education and strategic research for the financial services industry and Lafferty Group, the global financial services publishing and research company, announced plans to co-produce a retail financial services conference and exposition for European executives in 2001. Scheduled June 18 - 20, 2001 in London, Retail Finance Expo - Europe 2001 will address critical issues in European markets and will showcase the latest technology solutions from leading financial services providers.

"Over the years, BAI has become the principal provider of strategic industry information and education to U.S. financial services organizations," said Thomas P. Johnson, Jr., president and chief executive officer, BAI. "Through our alliance with Lafferty Group, we can leverage our knowledge and expertise to expand our reach in Europe."

"Lafferty Group and BAI share a commitment to providing relevant, strategic information to help financial services professionals thrive in today's competitive marketplace," commented Michael Lafferty, chairman of Lafferty Group. "Given this common goal and our complementary product line, it was a natural step for us to collaborate on a joint project."

BAI's Retail Delivery Conference, which attracted approximately 3,000 financial services professionals and had a total conference attendance of 9,000 people in Miami last year, is the industry's largest retail financial services conference. BAI's capabilities in content development and program design and Lafferty Group's experience and in-depth knowledge of the European financial services industry will come together in Retail Finance Expo - Europe 2001.

Both organizations expect the conference to become an annual event and a principal source of information on retail financial services strategy and technology for European financial services professionals.

With the overall theme "Re-engineering the Legacy Bank", the program will address issues such as mobile networks, eBanking, aggregation, ATMs, cards and payments, as well as customer relationship management and branch and sales management. The detailed conference agenda is now in development. Conference updates will be posted on the respective company Web sites at www.bai.org or www.lafferty.com .

Bank Administration Institute (BAI) is the leading professional organization devoted exclusively to improving the competitive position of financial services companies through strategic research and a broad range of educational offerings. BAI delivers approximately 200 educational offerings annually including conferences, seminars, graduate programs, roundtables and certification programs. BAI conducts a number of major strategic studies each year that examine emerging issues facing the industry.

Lafferty Group is a unique global brand renowned for innovative, independent thinking -- and for forecasting the future of financial services. What was once a newsletter publisher has rapidly evolved into an integrated business providing clients worldwide with business intelligence, research, advice and ideas. The company has seven divisions including Newsletters/Newswires, Research Reports, Conferences, Executive Education, Councils, Lafferty Internet Ratings, and Lafferty Advisory Services.