FTSE International and Reuters Join Forces On Industry Classification.

Business Editors

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 2, 2000

FTSE International and Reuters today announce plans to classify nearly 35,000 companies in Reuters database of equities using the FTSE Global Classification System for the global equities markets. The service will be jointly produced and Reuters will disseminate the FTSE - Reuters Classification Service through its 3000 Xtra services worldwide.

Buyside and sellside organisations are increasingly organising themselves to analyse markets on a broader worldwide sector analysis, rather than from a country specific viewpoint. The requirement for a thoroughly modern, and highly granular classification system covering all stocks worldwide is clear, and this scheme will meet that need. It will be dynamic, with Reuters and FTSE International cooperating to monitor changes in classifications to ensure that shifts in market focus are accurately represented. Already adopted by the Amsterdam, Brussels, London and Luxembourg exchanges for their domestic markets, the initiative is set to establish the FTSE Global Classification System as a global industry standard.

This deal will see FTSE International and Reuters working together over the next 12 months to classify approximately 35,000 companies spread across 47 countries, of which FTSE International has already classified some 4,500 companies. FTSE International, under the oversight and management of the FTSE Global Classification Committee, will audit the remaining classifications supplied by Reuters. The FTSE Global Classification Committee consists of independent industry professionals from around the world who manage and oversee the operation of the classification system.

The FTSE - Reuters Classification Service giving details of all companies, including ongoing changes, will be made available electronically as a service from FTSE International to all investors and vendors.

Mark Makepeace, Managing Director, FTSE International commented, "This joint initiative between FTSE and Reuters is another step in establishing the FTSE Global Classification System as the global industry standard. It is clear that in the future only one or two systems will be used to classify companies worldwide. The FTSE Global Classification System will be one of them."

Lloyd Beat, Global Head of Equities at Reuters, stated: "This innovative classification scheme will provide clients with an opportunity to allocate and manage assets on a global basis. Reflecting the rapidly changing and increasingly global equities markets, it will provide additional value in particular to our fund management clients. This scheme allows both Reuters and FTSE International to build on our existing strengths".

Notes for Editors:

1. Background to FTSE International

FTSE International is one of the world's leading experts in the creation and management of equity indices and is jointly owned by the London Stock Exchange and the Financial Times. With offices in London, New York and Paris(1), FTSE International services clients in 77 countries worldwide. It manages and develops globally recognised indices ranging from the FTSE World Index to the real time FTSE Eurotop series and the FTSE 100. The company has collaborative arrangements with the London, Amsterdam, Brussels, Norex, Athens, Luxembourg and Madrid stock exchanges, as well as with Nikkei of Japan (Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Inc).

FTSE indices are used extensively by investors worldwide for investment analysis, performance measurement, asset allocation and for creating a wide range of index tracking funds. Committees of senior fund managers, derivatives experts, actuaries and other experienced practitioners independently review all changes to the indices ensuring that they are accurate, timely and without bias.

(1) FTSE Paris office will be opened during 1st quarter 2000

For more details please see http://www.ftse.com

2. Background on Reuters

Reuters supplies the global financial markets and the news media with the widest range of information and news products including real-time financial data, collective investment data, numerical, textual, historical and graphical databases plus news, graphics, news video, and news pictures. It reaches over 521,000 users in 52,800 locations and extensively uses internet technologies for wider distribution of information and news. Reuters designs and installs enterprise-wide information management and risk management systems for the financial markets as well as providing equity and foreign exchange management systems. Reuters provides news and information to over 900 Internet sites reaching an estimated 40 million viewers. Reuters is the world's largest news and television agency with 2,101 journalists, photographers and camera operators in 184 bureaux serving 154 countries. News is published in 23 languages. Instinet, an international electronic agency stockbroker, is an independently managed subsidiary of Reuters. The Group employed 16,548 staff in 212 cities in 97 countries at 31 December 1999.

For more details see http://www.reuters.com/mediapack/

Reuters and the sphere logo are the trademarks of the Reuters group of companies.

3. FTSE - Reuters Classification Service

The FTSE - Reuters Classification Service will provide investors with an up-to-date classification code for all quoted equity securities worldwide. This will enable investors to analyse their portfolios and undertake research using the FTSE Global Classification System for all markets worldwide.

This FTSE Global Classification system has been established to reflect changes in the world economy and is broken down into 10 economic groups, 40 Industrial Sectors and 103 Industry Sub-sectors. Companies are classified into homogeneous industry subsectors. The subsectors are grouped into sectors in such a way that a general industrial and economic theme may be common to all stocks in the sector from an investment perspective. The sectors themselves are aggregated into economic groups. It has already been acknowledged through independent research as the most comprehensive and accurate system in operation. The FTSE Global Classification system has been adopted by Amsterdam Exchanges, the Brussels, London and Luxembourg Exchanges as well as Reuters.