Bear Stearns Capital Trust II Announces Cash Distribution.

Business Editors

NEW YORK, New York--(BUSINESS WIRE)--December 21, 2001

Bear Stearns Capital Trust II, a special purpose trust controlled by The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE: BSC), today announced its regular quarterly cash distribution on its outstanding shares of 7.5% Trust Issued Preferred Securities.

Bear Stearns Capital Trust II announced a cash distribution of 46.875 cents per share on the outstanding shares of its 7.5% Trust Issued Preferred Securities payable January 15, 2002 to holders of record on January 1, 2002.

Bear Stearns Capital Trust II is a statutory business trust created under Delaware law. All of its common securities are owned by The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. Bear Stearns Capital Trust II exists solely to issue and sell its common and preferred securities, using the proceeds to acquire debentures issued by The Bear Stearns Companies Inc.

Founded in 1923, The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE: BSC) is the parent company of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., a leading investment banking and securities trading and brokerage firm serving governments, corporations, institutions and individuals worldwide. With approximately $29.8 billion in total capital, the company's business includes corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions, institutional equities and fixed income sales, trading and research, private client services, derivatives, foreign exchange and futures sales and trading, asset management and custody services. Through Bear, Stearns Securities Corp., it offers prime broker and broker dealer clearing services, including securities lending. Headquartered in New York City, the company has approximately 10,500 employees located in domestic offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Juan; and an international presence in Beijing, Dublin, Herzliya, Hong Kong, London, Lugano, Milan, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. For additional information about Bear Stearns, please visit our Web site at http://www.bearstearns.com.