Cayman Islands Stock Exchange Makes Announcement.

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 22, 1998--The Cayman Islands Stock Exchange has introduced a fast track listing facility to help fund managers take advantage of proposed changes to rules governing the distribution of "hot issue" securities in the United States.

A number of leading hedge funds have already applied to list on the Cayman Islands Stock Exchange as a result of the changes being introduced by the National Association of Securities Dealers. Most recent to list is M.Kingdon Offshore N.V. managed by Kingdon Capital Management Corp. in New York, the fund is capitalized at over US$1.4 billion and has a minimum subscription level of US$2 million.

Certain funds have been restricted in the past from participating in "hot issues" which are oversubscribed public offerings of stock which trade at a premium.

The intention of the restrictions was to prevent NASD broker-dealers artificially raising the price of such issues, retaining them for themselves or channelingthe stock to favored clients.

In practice, the rules meant that mutual funds participating in these offerings had to maintain segregated accounts for their various clients to distinguish between those who were subject to the restrictions, and those who were not. The burden of maintaining such a system discouraged many funds from getting involved in "hot issues."

Under the amended rules, NASD members may sell "hot issues" securities to offshore funds on condition that the fund has one hundred or more investors; is listed on a foreign exchange; does not invest 5% or more of its assets in the issue; and nobody controlling 5% or more of the fund is a restricted person under the regulations. The change is anticipated to take effect in August 1998. Those funds who qualify will be able to take advantage of the new rules and will no longer have to maintain segregated accounts to order to invest in "hot issue" securities.

Cayman Islands Stock Exchange Chief Executive Ann Nealon said: "As soon as it was announced that the NASD was proposing to change the rules we had a number of inquiries from hedge funds wanting to list.

"We are now processing applications and have decided to introduce a fast track for funds with well established track records, who seek to list to be in a position to take advantage of the forthcoming NASD rule change.

"Fund Managers demand a fast and efficient service and our philosophy in Cayman is to be responsive to the market place."

Since it opened its doors for business in July 1997 the CSX has won a reputation for providing a flexible, efficient and cost effective listing service.

For funds with sophisticated investment strategies, such as hedge funds, the Exchange offers two distinct advantages in that there are no restrictions on the investment policies of the fund or accounting requirements that demand extensive disclosure of a fund's investment portfolio, including it short positions. The Exchange requires disclosure only of the usual financial information contained in audited accounts prepared in accordance with International Accounting Standards or a recognized GAAP, otherwise acceptable to the Exchange.

In the first year of its operations, the Exchange listed 107 issues with a total market capitalization of over US$10 billion. Apart from Kingdon, the Exchange has already attracted some of the world's leading hedge funds including the renowned Maverick Fund. As well as mutual funds, the Exchange is also proving popular as a listing facility for capital markets debt instruments. International financial institutions such as Deutsche Bank and Merrill Lynch are now taking advantage of the Exchange's sophisticated and efficient service to list these types of products.

   CONTACT: Media Relations:
             Michael Shanahan, 345/945-7733
                    or
             Chief Executive Officer:
             Ann Nealon, 345/945-6060