This report brings to a close a difficult period for Cendant employees and shareholders alike. The investigation has identified how a group of people at CUC deliberately deceived and misled investors and business partners -- and reveals a corporate culture that encouraged this behavior.

We are taking this step to secure permanent capital to grow; to share ownership broadly among our employees now and through future compensation; and to permit us to use publicly traded securities to finance strategic acquisitions that we may elect to make in the future.

I'm on the Business Roundtable, the CEOs of the largest 100-odd companies in the country. Most of these people wanted very much to be the CEO of a large public company but realize that it's not exactly what they had anticipated, for lots of reasons. One is competition has gotten a lot worse, and more global.

There is a fiduciary duty here. It's really inconceivable to us.

Walter Forbes's decision and the corporate governance changes approved today end any uncertainty about the future direction and leadership of Cendant. That uncertainty was a serious impediment to conducting our business and the process of restoring trust in our company.

We are very focused on growing our business internally but also externally. We like this business very much. We have a comparative advantage -- we can use our comparative database in order to qualify leads.