S&P To Commence Pricing Pilot Program With Amex For 12 S&P 500 NASDAQ-listed Securities On March 1st

Standard & Poor's, a leading provider of independent investment research, indices, and ratings, announced today that the pilot program originally announced on October 8, 2003, to use closing prices as determined on the American Stock Exchange (Amex) for 12 NASDAQ-listed stocks in the S&P 500, will commence on Monday, March 1, 2004. The pilot will begin with six stocks the first week and add six more stocks on Monday, March 8, 2004. The pilot program will end on Friday, May 14, 2004 at which time pricing on the 12 stocks will revert to NASDAQ closes. The full list of 12 stocks will be announced prior to the program and will be available at www.indexnews.standardandpoors.com.

In addition to evaluating the results of this pilot program, Standard & Poor's will also undertake a review of the NASDAQ Closing Cross program which is expected to begin on March 29, 2004. Both the NASDAQ Closing Cross program and the closing price procedure on the Amex will offer a market-on-close process to investors.

"We are implementing this pilot program as a result of concerns expressed by some in the investor community about the reliability of the closing prices for NASDAQ-listed securities," said David Blitzer, managing director, Standard & Poor's. "For example, on the date on which one or more stocks are added to or removed from the S&P 500, or when the futures or options based on the S&P 500 expire, investors tracking the index need reliable and achievable prices at which they can reasonably expect to trade." He added, "Following the testing period we will evaluate the performance of the Amex pilot program and the new NASDAQ closing price system, and will be soliciting feedback from the investment community. We expect to publish our findings shortly thereafter."