NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - Nov 14, 2011) - Mizuho Securities USA (NYSE: [ MFG ]) ("MSUSA"), the U.S. broker-dealer subsidiary of the global Mizuho Financial Group, today announced a key addition to its fast growing U.S. equity franchise with the appointment of Arin Amanda Prisand as a Director in its Corporate Access department.

In her new position, Ms. Prisand will work closely with MSUSA's Equity Research, Sales, Trading, and Capital Markets teams and serve as an important link between the firm's corporate and investor clients by arranging management introductions to prospective institutional investors.

Robert Betack, Executive Managing Director of the Equity Division, commented, "The experience and relationships that Arin brings to her new role, together with the strength of our sales, trading and research capabilities, will provide clients with increased ability to broaden their investor base, make better informed investment decisions, and more efficiently allocate capital."

MSUSA will continue to grow the Corporate Access team as part of its ongoing commitment to meet the needs of its clients. The Corporate Access team will complement MSUSA's US Equity Research platform, which now has a team of nine research analysts focused on the Healthcare, Clean Technology, Telecommunications, and Technology sectors.

Ms. Prisand brings ten years of equities experience in corporate access, equity trading, sales and research sales on both the buy and sell-side to Mizuho. She joins the firm from Jeffries & Co., where she worked in Global Access and Research Sales, and prior to that spent five years in research at Pequot Capital Management and worked on the Equity Proprietary Trading Desk at Credit Suisse First Boston.

About Mizuho Securities USA
Mizuho Securities USA Inc. is a U.S. registered broker-dealer headquartered in New York City, with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Hoboken (NJ), Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco and London (UK). MSUSA provides a wide range of fixed income and equity securities products and investment banking services to institutional clients. MSUSA is one of only 21 firms designated as a Primary Dealer in U.S. Government and Agency securities. MSUSA also is a U.S. registered futures commission merchant ("FCM") and a member of most international futures exchanges. MSUSA's parent company, Mizuho Securities Co., Ltd., is a top-tier, full-service, Japanese securities firm and a core member of the Mizuho Financial Group. [ http://www.mizuhosecurities.com ]

Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: [ MFG ]), based in Japan, is one of the largest financial institutions in the world, offering a broad range of financial services including banking, securities, trust and asset management, credit card, private banking services, and venture capital through its group companies. The group has approximately 57,000 staff working in more than 980 offices inside and outside Japan, and total assets of over $1.9 trillion as of June 30, 2011. Its core global corporate banking entity, Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd., has offices throughout the U.S., the Americas, and the world, providing financial and strategic solutions to major corporations, financial institutions and public sector entities. For more information, please visit [ http://www.mizuho-fg.co.jp/english/ ]