NASD Proposal Would Permit UITs in Nasdaq Price Quotation Service

Washington, DC, December 7, 2000 - The National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary, The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc., has proposed amendments to NASD Rule 6800 to add listing standards that would permit the inclusion of certain unit investment trusts in Nasdaq’s Mutual Fund Quotation Service ("MFQS"). Comments on the proposal must be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Friday, December 22, 2000.

Nasdaq proposes to apply to UITs the same listing standards that will apply to closed-end funds. Accordingly, under the proposal, a UIT would have to have at least $60 million in net assets to qualify for initial inclusion in the News Media List, and maintain at least $30 million in net assets to remain in that list. A UIT would qualify for inclusion in the Supplemental List if it:

• has at least $10 million in net assets;
• has had two full years of operation; or
• the UIT’s "investment adviser" is the investment adviser of a least one other fund or UIT that is listed on the MFQS and that has net assets of $10 million or more, and has at least $15 million in total assets of open-end funds, closed-end funds, or unit investment trusts under management.

Nasdaq estimates that nearly all of the equity-based UITs that exist today would be eligible for inclusion in the MFQS under the proposed standards. It further states that although many bond-based UITs also will qualify, "industry participants have indicated to Nasdaq that few of these funds will elect to participate in the MFQS."