ISDA SETS OPENING OF TOKYO OFFICE

AMSTERDAM, Wednesday, March 15, 2000 - The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) announced at its annual general meeting here that it will formally open an office in Tokyo on April 13 in support of its Japanese committees and member organizations, which include the country's leading banks and other financial institutions. The office will also serve non-Japanese members with operations in Japan.

Richard E. Grove, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of ISDA, said the office will be headed by Shigeki Kawano who will join ISDA from The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (BTM) where he is Deputy General Manager and head of risk management in London. Mr. Kawano previously served in a number of treasury and foreign exchange trading positions with BTM in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney and London.

Yasuko Horibe, a member of ISDA's staff in New York, will move to Tokyo as Assistant Director. Ms. Horibe's responsibilities will include overseeing member relations in Japan and ISDA's Asian conferences.

The Tokyo office be located in the Arthur Andersen building in the Kagurazaka area of the Shinjuku ward. ISDA's decision to provide more than administrative support reflects the increased level of activity and the significant issues in the Japanese market, said Mr. Grove. Japanese members and their committees have been a particularly active and supportive component of ISDA almost from the association's formation in the mid 1980s.

In addition to full offices in New York, London and Tokyo, ISDA will open a fourth full office in either Singapore or Hong Kong by the end of this year. "The new offices are a reflection of the growing use of swaps and other OTC derivatives for risk management in the global economy. Derivatives use increasingly encompasses emerging as well as established financial centers," Mr. Grove said.

ISDA is the industry association for the world's leading participants in swaps and other privately negotiated derivatives transactions. Its more than 450 member organizations include banks and other financial institutions, government entities, corporations and professional service providers.