Deutsche Börse: New Equity Market Segmentation To Be Implemented January 1, 2003 - Companies Can Start Applying For Admission To Prime Standard - Extended Product Portfolio For Investment Funds

The new segmentation of the equities market at the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FWB Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse) will be implemented as planned as of January 1, 2003, Deutsche Börse reported on Monday. The Exchange Rules were passed by the Exchange Council on November 19, 2002 and subsequently approved by the Hessian Exchange Supervisory Authority. As of 2003, there will then be two segments at FWB for the listing of equities and certificates representing shares, Prime Standard and General Standard, which will differ in terms of their respective transparency criteria.

Companies can now apply for a listing in the Prime Standard segment. The Admissions Office of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange will publish the results of its listing decisions. Admission to General Standard does not require any further action on the issuer's part.

The admission to Prime Standard is a prerequisite for companies to be included in the selection indices DAX, MDAX, SDAX, TecDAX and NEMAX 50. As previously announced, the index provider Deutsche Börse will decide the composition of the selection indices in early February 2003. Changes will then be implemented as of March 24, 2003.

In order to take the needs of investors into even better account with the new index model, Deutsche Börse will calculate four additional indices. These are designed for capital investment companies that use these indices as a benchmark. For companies ranked below the DAX blue chip index, Deutsche Börse will calculate the Classic All Share index, comprising all companies from the classic sectors and the Technology All Share index for all companies from the technology sectors. The Midcap Market index will track the MDAX and TecDAX companies. Moreover, the HDAX will also be continued, which will then contain the companies from the DAX, MDAX and TecDAX.