ATTENTION: MANAGER, PURCHASES AND SALES DEPARTMENT, CASHIER, FUND/SERV PARTICIPANTS, ACATS PARTICIPANTS, MUNICIPAL BOND COMPARISON PARTICIPANTS

National Securities Clearing Corporation, the New York and American Stock Exchanges, the Nasdaq System and all New York Banks will be closed on Tuesday, December 25, 2001 and Tuesday, January 1, 2002 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, 2001 will be accepted no later than 12:00 Midnight on December 24, 2001. Trade input for the Fixed Income Transaction System (FITS) for trade date December 24, 2001 will be accepted no later than 12:00 Midnight on December 24, 2001.

Trade input for Listed and OTC equities for trade date December 31, 2001 will be accepted no later than 12:00 Midnight on December 31, 2001. Trade in put for the Fixed Income Transaction System (FITS) for trade date December 31, 2001 will be accepted no later than Midnight on December 31, 2001.

CNS CONTINUOUS NET SETTLEMENT:
Seg. Exemptions and Priority Requests for settlement Wednesday, December 26, 2001 and Wednesday, January 2, 2002 will be accepted on Monday evening, December 24, 2001 and Monday, December 31, 2001 respectively.

CENTRAL DELIVERY AND SETTLEMENT:
No Delivery or Settlement Operations will be provided on Tuesday, December 25, 2001 and Tuesday, January 1, 2002.

INTER-CITY DELIVERIES:
Inter-City Deliveries will be accepted on Monday evening, December 24, 2001 and Monday, December 31, 2001 for settlement December 26, 2001 and January 2, 2002.

**Due to the legal holiday in Canada on Wednesday, December 26, 2001 (Boxing Day), all inter-city deliveries received by NSCC on Monday, December 24, 2001 AND Wednesday, December 26, 2001 for delivery to Canadian Participants only will be combined for settlement date December 27, 2001.

STOCK BORROW PROGRAM:
Stock Borrow availability information will be accepted on Monday evening, December 24, 2001 and Monday, December 31, 2001 for settlement December 26, 2001 and January 2, 2002.

ACAT - AUTOMATED CUSTOMER ACCOUNT TRANSFER:
No ACAT activity will be accepted on Tuesday, December 25, 2001 and Tuesday, January 1, 2002.

ACAT - FUND/SERV INTERFACE:
No ACAT - FUND/SERV Interface activity will be accepted on Tuesday, December 25, 2001 and Tuesday, January 1, 2002.

MUTUAL FUND COMMISSION SETTLEMENT:
No Mutual Fund Commission Settlement activity will be accepted on Tuesday, December 25, 2001 and Tuesday, January 1, 2002.

FUND/SERV AND NETWORKING:
No Fund/Serv or Networking activity will be accepted on Tuesday, December 25, 2001 and Tuesday, January 1, 2002. The networking system will be available for processing on Saturday, December 22, 2001 and December 29, 2001.

INSURANCE PROCESSING:
No Insurance processing will be provided on Tuesday, December 25, 2001 and Tuesday, January 1, 2002. Insurance processing will be available on Saturday, December 22, 2001 and December 29, 2001.

Any questions regarding this Important Notice can be directed to NSCC Participant Services at (212) 855-4155 or the undersigned at (212) 855-1608.

Kevin A. Brennan
Director, Enterprise Serivce Center