National Securities Clearing Corporation, the New York and American Stock Exchanges, the Nasdaq System and all New York Banks will be closed on Friday, December 25, 1998 and Friday, January 1, 1999 in observance of Christmas Day and New Year's Day respectively. The following changes in NSCC's operations and schedules will be in effect:

COMPARISON SYSTEMS:

Trade input for Listed and OTC equities for trade date December 24, 1998 will be accepted no later than 12:00 Midnight on December 24, 1998. Trade input for the Fixed Income Transaction System (FITS) for trade date December 24, 1998 will be accepted no later than 12:00 Midnight on December 24, 1998.

Trade input for Listed and OTC equities for trade date December 31, 1998 will be accepted no later than 12:00 Midnight on December 31, 1998. Trade input for the Fixed Income Transaction System (FITS) for trade date December 31, 1998 will be accepted no later than Midnight on December 31, 1998.

CNS CONTINUOUS NET SETTLEMENT:

Seg. Exemptions and Priority Requests for settlement Monday, December 28, 1998 and Monday, January 4, 1999 will be accepted on Thursday evening, December 24, 1998, and Thursday, December 31, 1998 respectively.

CENTRAL DELIVERY AND SETTLEMENT:

No Delivery or Settlement Operations will be provided on Friday, December 25, 1998 and Friday, January 1, 1999.

INTER-CITY DELIVERIES:

Inter-City Deliveries will be accepted on Thursday evening, December 24, 1998 and Thursday, December 31, 1998 for settlement December 28, 1998 and January 4, 1999 respectively.

STOCK BORROW PROGRAM:

Stock Borrow availability information will be accepted on Thursday evening, December 24, 1998 and Thursday, December 31, 1998 for settlement December 28, 1998 and January 4, 1999 respectively.

ACAT - AUTOMATED CUSTOMER ACCOUNT TRANSFER:

No ACAT activity will be accepted on Friday, December 25, 1998, and Friday, January 1, 1999.

ACAT - FUND/SERV INTERFACE:

No ACAT - FUND/SERV Interface activity will be accepted on Friday, December 25, 1998, and Friday, January 1, 1999.

MUTUAL FUND COMMISSION SETTLEMENT:

No Mutual Fund Commission Settlement activity will be accepted on Friday, December 25, 1998, and Friday, January 1, 1999.

FUND/SERV AND NETWORKING:

No Fund/Serv or Networking activity will be accepted on Friday, December 25, 1998 and Friday January 1, 1999. The networking system will be available for processing on Saturday, December 26, 1998 and January 2, 1999.

Any questions regarding this Important Notice can be directed to NSCC Participant Services at (212) 412-8432.

Gerhard Krobisch
Vice President, Operations