  We investigate the dynamics of dilatonic D-dimensional 0-branes in the
near-horizon regime. The theory is given in a twofold form: two-dimensional
dilaton gravity and nonlinear sigma model. Using asymptotic symmetries, duality
relations, and sigma model techniques we find that the theory has three
conformal points which correspond to (a) the asymptotic (Anti-de Sitter) region
of the two-dimensional spacetime, (b) the horizon of the black hole, and (c)
the infinite limit of the coupling parameter. We show that the conformal
symmetry is perturbatively preserved at one-loop, identify the corresponding
conformal field theories, and calculate the associated central charges.
Finally, we use the conformal field theories to explain the thermodynamical
properties of the two-dimensional black holes.
