Birmingham, AL (August 13, 2009) – Sterne, Agee & Leach, Inc. served as lead underwriter for Nassau County, New York’s recent $50,875,000 bond issue. The 2009 Series E General Obligation Refunding Bonds were issued through Nassau County and security for the bonds is an ad valorem tax of the County. Sterne Agee was successful in helping the County take advantage of its A2/A+/A+ rated credit status and generated over $2.3 million in net present value savings for taxpayers through a refunding of existing higher interest debt.

Sterne Agee’s Public Finance Group is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, and maintains offices in New York, Houston, San Antonio, Ft. Lauderdale, Montgomery, Atlanta and Macon, GA. In addition, Sterne Agee has served as an underwriter on over 147 municipal financings throughout the country totaling $16.7 billion in par amount in the last 12 months.

Founded in 1901, Sterne Agee is one of the oldest and largest privately-owned investment banking firms in the country. A member of the New York Stock Exchange, Sterne Agee has more than 700 employees in 42 offices in 22 states. For more information, visit www.sterneagee.com.

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For more information, please contact:

 B. Hanson Slaughter
Executive Managing Director, Public Finance
205.949.3534
hslaughter@sterneagee.com

Leah McKinney
Senior Vice President, Marketing
205.949.3564
lmckinney@sterneagee.com