May 27, 1998

From 7 a.m. on Tuesday, June 2, on, all trading in MATIF interest-rate futures contracts will be exclusively through the NSC-VF electronic system.

Since the system began operation alongside open outcry trading on April 7, over 90% of trades in 3-month Pibor, Matif 5-year, Notional and Ecu futures contracts have been executed electronically, and this proportion has been close to 100% over recent days.

The Board of Directors of Matif SA reviewed this situation at its meeting on May 26 and, in response to requests from market participants, decided that contracts currently traded both electronically and by open outcry would be traded exclusively through the NSC-VF system as of June 2, 1998.

Options on interest-rate futures will continue to be traded by open outcry and through the NSC-VF system after hours. Floor trading will be shifted entirely to the electronic system in September 1998 at the latest.

At the end of June 1998, all trading in commodity futures, currently conducted by open outcry, will be transferred to the electronic system.

Appendix - market shares of open outcry and electronic trading

Contact: Antoinette Bouvier-Darpy - Tel.: + 33 (0)1 40 28 83 89