National Securities Clearing Corporation, the New York and American Stock Exchanges, the Nasdaq System and all New York Banks will be closed on Thursday, December 25, 2003 and Thursday, January 1, 2004 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, 2003 will be accepted no later than 12:00 Midnight on December 24, 2003.  Trade input for the Fixed Income Transaction System (FITS) for trade date December 24, 2003 will be accepted no later than 12:00 Midnight on December 24, 2003.

Trade input for Listed and OTC equities for trade date December 31, 2003 will be accepted no later than 12:00 Midnight on December 31, 2003.  Trade input for the Fixed Income Transaction System (FITS) for trade date December 31, 2003 will be accepted no later than Midnight on December 31, 2003.

CNS CONTINUOUS NET SETTLEMENT:

Seg. Exemptions and Priority Requests for settlement Friday, December 26, 2003 and Friday, January 2, 2004 will be accepted on Wednesday, December 24, 2003 and Wednesday, December 31, 2003 respectively.

CENTRAL DELIVERY AND SETTLEMENT:

No Delivery or Settlement Operations will be provided on Thursday, December 25, 2003 and Thursday, January 1, 2003.

INTER-CITY DELIVERIES:

Inter-City Deliveries will be accepted on Wednesday evening, December 24, 2003 and Wednesday, December 31, 2003 for settlement December 26, 2003 and January 2, 2004.

**Due to the legal holiday in Canada on Friday, December 26, 2003 (Boxing Day), all inter-city deliveries received by NSCC on  Wednesday, December 24, 2003 AND Friday, December 26, 2003 for delivery to Canadian Participants only will be combined for settlement date December 29, 2003.

STOCK BORROW PROGRAM:

Stock Borrow availability information will be accepted on Wednesday evening, December 24, 2003 and Wednesday, December 31, 2003 for settlement December 26, 2003 and January 2, 2004.

ACAT  -  AUTOMATED CUSTOMER ACCOUNT TRANSFER:

No ACAT activity will be accepted on Thursday, December 25, 2003 and Thursday, January 1, 2004.

ACAT - FUND/SERV INTERFACE:

No ACAT - FUND/SERV Interface activity will be accepted on Thursday, December 25, 2003 and Thursday, January 1, 2004.

MUTUAL FUND COMMISSION SETTLEMENT:

No Mutual Fund Commission Settlement activity will be accepted on Thursday, December 25, 2003 and Thursday, January 1, 2004.

FUND/SERV AND NETWORKING:

No Fund/Serv or Networking activity will be accepted on Thursday, December 25, 2003 and Thursday, January 1, 2004. The networking system will be available for processing on Saturday, December 27, 2003 and Saturday, January 3, 2004.

INSURANCE  PROCESSING:

No Insurance processing will be provided on Thursday, December 25, 2003 and Thursday, January 1, 2004.  Insurance processing will be available on Saturday, December 27, 2003 and Saturday, January 3, 2004.

Any questions regarding this Important Notice can be directed to NSCC Participant Services at (212) 855-4155 or the undersigned at (212) 855-5623.