Henry R. SILVERMAN

Chairman, President, and CEO of Cendant Corporation

Our system of capitalism is built on the presumption of honesty, respect for the rule of law, and the assumption that institutions of stature and credibility will tell the truth.

In my thirty-eight years in business, I have gained a number of deeply practical insights—the most important of which is that in the end you must rely upon the truthfulness of the people you are dealing with. We have all come to know that every good partnership—whether in business or marriage—is based on trust.

So how do we deal with the subversion of our financial system? What do we rely upon? The answer is quite simple: our own integrity. We have an unwavering obligation to tell the truth, tell it all, and tell it now to shareholders, employees, and customers who have placed their trust in our companies.

These constituents and our markets have suffered greatly from the frauds at companies like Adelphia, Enron, and Worldcom. Our responsibility as business leaders is to restore the trust and hopefully the wealth by building and maintaining public companies that foster candor, openness, and above all, integrity.

Tell the truth, tell it all, tell it now