The Bank of New York Projects First-Half Volume for Depositary Receipts.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 23, 2003

The Bank of New York reported today that six-month depositary receipt trading volume on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) and The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (NASDAQ) is projected to be 14.8 billion shares, valued at $265 billion, as compared to 14.7 billion shares, valued at $281 billion, virtually unchanged from the first half of 2002.

For the first half of 2003, 35 new public and private depositary receipt programs were established, including companies representing 20 countries in the Africa, Asia-Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and Middle East regions. This compares to 70 programs from 24 countries in the same period last year. The most notable NYSE listings included Sasol (South Africa) and Mitchells & Butlers (U.K.), which was formed as a result of the separation of Six Continents into two companies.

Non-U.S. companies and governments raised over $420 million through five depositary receipt offerings during the first six months of 2003, compared to $3.7 billion raised through 15 offerings by non-U.S. companies and governments in the same period last year. 2003 offerings included Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group, Inc. and the privatization of Telkom South Africa.

Mergers and acquisitions by non-U.S. companies of U.S. companies using depositary receipts included HSBC's acquisition of Household International Inc., which was valued at approximately $13 billion.

Timothy F. Keaney, managing director in charge of The Bank of New York's American Depositary Receipt Division, said, "First half trading volume is strong considering the geopolitical climate of the past six months. We are anticipating a pick-up in merger and acquisition activity over the next 12 months as companies flush with capital feel confident about moving forward with acquisitions."

Depositary receipt trading volume for the first six months was highest for companies in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Finland and Taiwan. Programs with the most active volume of depositary receipt trading activity were primarily from the telecommunications, semiconductor and pharmaceutical industries, including Nokia (Finland), Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (Taiwan), Ericsson (Sweden), and Elan (Ireland).

The Bank of New York ADR Indices Up Year-to-Date(a)

The Bank of New York ADR Indices rebounded in line with major international indices as the following year-to-date results show:

      Index Name                                         % Increase
      ----------                                         ----------

  --  The Bank of New York Composite ADR Index           + 14.10%
  --  The Bank of New York Latin America ADR Index       + 23.61%
  --  The Bank of New York Europe ADR Index              + 15.67%
  --  The Bank of New York Asia ADR Index                + 7.52%
  --  The Bank of New York Emerging Markets ADR Index    + 14.63%
  --  The Bank of New York Developed Markets ADR Index   + 14.06%

The Bank of New York ADR Index(SM) is the only real-time index to track all depositary receipts and New York shares traded on the NYSE, AMEX and NASDAQ. The index is capitalization-weighted and adjusted for free-float using Dow Jones' current methodology. The visibility and use of the index continues to grow with over 25 vendors disseminating its data and approximately $34 billion benchmarked to it. In addition to the composite, there are 3 regional, 4 market, 3 sector, 7 select and 41 country indices.

New Study of Depositary Receipt Value Creation by Oxford Metrica

Oxford Metrica, a global independent strategic advisor, recently conducted an extensive depositary receipt study, which revealed that companies which have launched depositary receipt programs on U.S. exchanges have increased the value of their share prices in their local markets by up to 10% over one year and have improved liquidity by 27% on average. Terminating a depositary receipt has the opposite effect, dropping a company's share price by up to 25% over a year. The research was conducted on a representative universe of 767 depositary receipt programs between 1980 and 2003.

The Bank of New York is the world's largest depositary for American and global depositary receipt facilities, which allows non-U.S. companies to offer dollar-denominated securities to investors worldwide. The Bank currently issues depositary receipts for more than 1,400 programs representing 70 countries and accounts for 67% of all public sponsored depositary receipt programs. For additional information on The Bank of New York's depositary receipt products and services, please visit www.adrbny.com.

The Bank of New York Company, Inc. (NYSE: BK) is a global leader in securities servicing for issuers, investors and financial intermediaries. The Company plays an integral role in the infrastructure of the capital markets, servicing securities in more than 100 markets worldwide. The Company provides quality solutions through leading technology for global corporations, financial institutions, asset managers, governments, non-profit organizations, and individuals. Its principal subsidiary, The Bank of New York, founded in 1784, is the oldest bank in the United States and has a distinguished history of serving clients around the world through its five primary businesses: Securities Servicing and Global Payment Services, Private Client Services and Asset Management, Corporate Banking, Global Market Services, and Retail Banking. Additional information on the Company is available at www.bankofny.com.

(a) Figures as of the close of 6/16/03