MetWest Securities Announces Asset Purchase of Cantor Fitzgerald's Securities Lending Operation.

Business Editors

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 2001

MetWest Securities Will Assume Client Base With Approximately

$3.4 Billion Under Management In Profit-Sharing Agreement

Metropolitan West Securities LLC, a firm specializing in securities lending and short-term fixed-income asset management, announced today that it will purchase the assets of Cantor Fitzgerald's securities lending operation.

MetWest Securities will assume responsibility for Cantor Fitzgerald's existing securities lending client accounts and retain its three employees who work in the securities lending division, which currently manages approximately $3.4 billion in client assets. Under the terms of the agreement, MetWest Securities will share profits from the newly acquired securities lending operations with Cantor Fitzgerald for a period of two years. No other financial terms were disclosed.

"MetWest Securities is dedicated exclusively to securities lending, so Cantor Fitzgerald's employees and clients will meld easily into our existing operations," said Louis V. Molinari, managing director of MetWest Securities. "Our firm has a 10-year history of providing superior, personalized service to clients and a positive work environment for employees. We are already working closely with the Cantor Fitzgerald securities lending team and their clients to welcome them to the MetWest Securities organization and begin the process of building rewarding, long-term relationships."

"We have found a great partner in MetWest. We exit the securities lending business confident that the business built by the surviving and lost employees will have both focus and commitment from a firm that is truly a leader in their field," said Harry Fry, senior managing director of Cantor Fitzgerald. "We chose MetWest Securities because it is a stable firm with an excellent reputation that can ensure a smooth transition for this business."

Joining MetWest Securities from Cantor Fitzgerald will be Michael Tucci, Karen Costigliola and John Gaudioso. All will retain their vice president titles. The Cantor Fitzgerald securities lending team and clients will be integrated into MetWest Securities' existing operations in Short Hills, N.J. The transaction is expected to close this week.

With the asset purchase announced today, MetWest Securities will have approximately $35 billion in loans outstanding. MetWest Securities is among the nation's largest third-party securities lenders, with a national client base consisting of major institutional funds and corporate portfolios. Its primary competitors are custodial banks.

Securities lending is a strategy widely used by large institutional investors to generate additional income with minimal risk. It is the temporary loan of a security from an institutional investor's portfolio to a broker/dealer or dealer bank to support that firm's trading activities. Loaned securities are generally collateralized, reducing the lender's credit exposure to the borrower. Except for the right to vote proxies, the lender retains entitlement to all the benefits of owning the original securities, including the receipt of dividends and interest. Additionally, the lender receives a fee for the use of the securities and can reinvest the collateral. Lendable securities include U.S. government and agency bonds, U.S. and foreign equities, U.S. corporate and Eurobonds, foreign government bonds, asset-backed and mortgage-backed securities.

About Metropolitan West Securities

Metropolitan West Securities LLC is an affiliate company of Metropolitan West Financial, Inc., a diversified financial management holding company with ownership interests in various financial companies and investment advisors. These affiliate companies are managed as separate entities by key employees with significant ownership. Including the transaction announced today, MetWest Financial and its affiliates manage approximately $55 billion on behalf of institutional clients and high-net-worth individuals.

For more information about Metropolitan West Securities, visit the company's website at http://www.mws.com.

About Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P.

Cantor Fitzgerald, L.P. is a financial services firm with operating units that are involved in a variety of market-based business initiatives. From its position as a leading financial intermediary in both the equity and fixed income markets, Cantor has expanded the scope of its business to include portfolio trading, investment banking, financial spread betting, market advisory, energy brokerage, CO2 emissions trading and electronic trading technology. Cantor brings its experience and expertise in the financial markets and its legacy of innovation in technology to benefit institutional investors and traders around the world. Whether creating new products and services or enabling its clients to trade more efficiently and effectively through cutting edge technological solutions, Cantor is reinventing markets every day.