ISDA®

INTERNATIONAL SWAPS AND DERIVATIVES ASSOCIATION

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release Thursday, November 29, 2001

For More Information, Please Contact:

Stacy Carey, ISDA New York, (212) 332-1200; Fax (212) 332-1212; scarey@isda.org

ISDA PUBLISHES 2001 CROSS-AGREEMENT BRIDGE

NEW YORK, Thursday, November 29, 2001 – The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) today announced web site publication of the 2001 ISDA Cross-Agreement Bridge. The Bridge and Commentary can be accessed under the What’s New section of ISDA’s web site.

The Bridge is designed for inclusion in the Schedule to an ISDA Master Agreement, and builds on the approach first used in the ISDA/BBAIRS and ISDA/FRABBA Bridges published by ISDA in 1996. It is designed to provide parties to an ISDA Master Agreement with a possible means of using that agreement to achieve a form of cross-product and cross-agreement netting, without substantially interfering with the provisions of other industry-standard master agreements.

Unlike the ISDA/BBAIRS and ISDA/FRABBA Bridges, the Cross-Agreement Bridge does not deem transactions documented under other master agreements to be Transactions governed by the ISDA Master Agreement, but instead operates only upon the occurrence of a specified Event of Default relating to payments or bankruptcy under the ISDA Master Agreement. Under the provisions of the Bridge, if such an Event of Default occurs, the Non-defaulting Party may terminate not only transactions documented under the ISDA Master Agreement, but also transactions documented under other specified agreements. Transactions documented under the other agreements will be closed out essentially in accordance with the provisions of the other agreements, and the resulting net close-out amounts will be incorporated within the close-out calculation under the ISDA Master Agreement. The Bridge aims to achieve a position where, ultimately, the net close-out amount payable under the ISDA Master Agreement will be the only sum payable between the parties following termination of the transactions entered into under both the ISDA Master Agreement and the other agreements.

^®ISDA is a registered trademark of the International Swaps & Derivatives Association, Inc.