Core Pacific-Yamaichi Int'l (HK) Ltd. was ranked 4th and 6th in the China H-share category and Hong Kong HSI Stock category respectively, under the 2005 StarMine Broker Rankings for stock picking and earnings estimates accuracy. About 20 brokers were selected for ranking and the top ten are shown below:

CPY Research ranked 4th in the China "H" shares Broker Rankings 2005

Recommendations Category
Rank	Broker	Companies
1	UBS	26
2	BOCI Research Limited	30
3	Goldman Sachs	14
4	Core Pacific-Yamaichi	19
5	Smith Barney Citigroup	26
6	BNP Paribas	27
7	ABN Amro	25
8	UOB Kay Hian	22
9	J.P. Morgan	21
10	Morgan Stanley	28

(Note, in order to qualify for ranking, a broker must cover at least 50% of the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index.)

CPY Research ranked 6th in the Hong Kong HSI Stock Coverage Broker Rankings 2005

Recommendations Category
Rank	Broker	Companies
1	Credit Suisse First Boston	30
2	J.P. Morgan	31
3	Deutsche Bank Securities	32
4	Merrrill Lynch	27
5	Morgan Stanley	32
6	Core Pacific-Yamaichi	23
7	BNP Paribas	29
8	Smith Barney Citigroup	29
9	BOCI Research Limited	26
10	Sun Hung Kai	24

(Note, in order to qualify for ranking, a broker must cover at least 50% of the Hang Seng Index.)

* Founded in 1998, StarMine is a privately held corporation headquartered in San Francisco with offices in New York, London, Paris, Boston, Chicago, Denver, and Sydney. StarMine's mission is to be the most trusted global source of objective analyst performance measurement and earnings quality evaluation.

Leading securities house expands regional base in Hong Kong

Leading securities house, Core Pacific-Yamaichi International (HK) Limited (Core Pacific-Yamaichi) has chosen Hong Kong as its regional base because of the city's unbeatable advantages as the leading financial centre in the region.

The company ranked first for the number of IPOs it sponsored in Hong Kong last year.

After evaluating alternative cities, Core Pacific-Yamaichi has decided to keep its headquarters in Hong Kong.

The Director-General of Investment Promotion at Invest Hong Kong, Mr. Mike Rowse, welcomed the firm's decision to stay and expand in Hong Kong.

Core Pacific-Yamaichi's operations in Hong Kong include 12 brokerage branches and an e-financial services unit, currently employing some 350 staff. The company will hire more local talent in the next few months as part of its expansion plan.

"Our operation in Hong Kong will become very important strategically for our future expansion in the Greater China region," Mr Fu added.

"As an industry leader specialising in the growing middle market, Core Pacific-Yamaichi will play a key role in maintaining Hong Kong as the prime fund raising centre for the Mainland."

Mr Rowse said that China's accession to the WTO would allow greater foreign ownership in key sectors like telecommunications, banking and insurance. Restructured mainland companies will increasingly rely on equity finance for expansion in order to prepare for intensified foreign competition. Hong Kong provides the most convenient overseas market for mainland Chinese enterprises seeking to list.

Hong Kong is the single largest source of foreign capital for mainland enterprises, having raised so far more than US$80 billion for such companies.

"Hong Kong provides an independent judicial system based on English common law, a solid and transparent regulatory framework, a large pool of qualified financial professionals, as well as the free flow of capital and information. These competitive edges make Hong Kong the ideal place for business development, for international investment banks and securities houses in the Greater China region," said Mr. Rowse.

"Hong Kong is a city that offers a myriad of opportunities for financial services providers such as Core Pacific-Yamaichi. We sincerely hope that the company will further intensify its business activities in Hong Kong."

http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/brandhk/0606187.htm

Securities houses may expand in mainland

Core Pacific Securities has already opened a representative office and a financial consulting firm in Shanghai. It is expected to get another license to open a representative office in Beijing and become the only Taiwanese securities firm with two stock brokerage licenses in the mainland.

Executives of Core Pacific Securities said the imminent participation in the World Trade Organization by the mainland and the new changes in relationship between Taiwan and the mainland after the presidential elections in Taiwan in March will give new momentum to further economic cooperation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Core Pacific Yamaichi Securities, the Hong Kong subsidiary of Core Pacific Securities, has already assisted several mainland Chinese companies getting listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. It is currently helping 13 other high-tech companies in the mainland achieve the same goal.

In addition to Core Pacific, five other securities companies in Taiwan have opened representative offices in Shanghai.

Core Pacific Securities purchases Yamaichi International (H.K.) Ltd.

Taiwan's two largest brokerages, Core Pacific Securities (CPS) and Capital Securities, recently gained approval from China's central bank to open representative offices in Shanghai's Pudong area. They are the first Taiwanese securities firms allowed direct access to the mainland market. The two firms will conduct their trading operations in Shanghai through overseas-based subsidiaries. In a bid to become a regional financial force, CPS also agreed to buy the 121-staff Yamaichi International (HK) Ltd., a Hong Kong unit of Yamaichi Securities of Japan, which went bankrupt last November. CPS also plans to open an office in Tokyo, creating a "bridge" between Japanese investors and Chinese and Taiwanese companies.