UK’s Financial Services Authority And Teather & Greenwood Limited Announce Details Of Split Capital Investment Trust Settlement

The FSA has been conducting an investigation into the activities of certain fund managers and brokers within the split capital investment trust ("splits") sector between September 2000 and February 2002. On 24 December 2004, the FSA announced that it had reached agreement with 18 firms to resolve this investigation. The FSA has now reached agreement with Teather & Greenwood Limited, a broker that was not a party to the 24 December agreement.

Teather & Greenwood has agreed to make a contribution of £300,000 to the settlement fund ("the Fund") set up by the 24 December agreement. Teather & Greenwood have agreed to the publication of this statement for the purposes only of this agreement and without any admissions. The FSA has made no determination of regulatory breaches or imposed any penalties.

The contribution made by Teather & Greenwood is being paid to Fund Distribution Limited ("FDL"), the company established to administer distributions from the Fund, and will be distributed in accordance with the same rules as announced on 24 December 2004. Teather & Greenwood acted as a broker and did not itself manage any Splits. The agreement with Teather & Greenwood will not change the identity of the investors who will be eligible for a distribution but will increase the potential recovery for those investors by a marginal amount.

FDL has confirmed that it expects to invite applications for distributions from the Fund before the end of April. A full announcement confirming the process and timelines will be made in due course by FDL. At such time, FDL will issue applications forms and guides to those investors who have already registered an interest in applying to the Fund. FDL is also working with registrars and firms acting as nominees to seek their support in identifying potentially eligible investors. Those investors who believe they may be eligible to apply are advised to register their interest as soon as possible via the website www.funddistribution.org or by telephoning the FDL helpline on 0845 606 6389