OPERATIONS BRIEFS

Fidelity Investments announced it has reached agreement to acquire Correspondent Services Corporation from UBS PaineWebber, a unit of Swiss financial-services firm UBS AG. The companies expect to complete the transaction during the second quarter, subject to satisfaction of standard and customary closing conditions in the Purchase Agreement. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The Board of Trade Clearing Corporation (the Clearing Corporation) announced that it will expand the security classes it accepts to satisfy original margin requirements to include municipal bonds, corporate bonds, commercial paper and certain additional government-agency securities. These instruments join securities already accepted under the Clearing Corporation's collateral-management system, including cash, U.S. Treasury and Agency Securities, Letters of Credit, foreign currencies, common stock, foreign-sovereign-debt securities of Canada, France, Germany and the U.K., and 19 money-market funds.

JPMorgan Investor Services JPMIS) announced that it has been appointed as global custodian by TKP Pensioen BV of the Netherlands. As custodian, JPMIS will administer assets of EUR2.1Billion and will provide custody, accounting, compliance monitoring and securities lending. AEGON recently acquired TKP Pensioen as a vehicle to access more pension funds. TKP Pensioen currently services seven pension funds including those of KPN and TPG.

Dennis J. Dirks, chief operating officer of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), has announced that he will retire from this position effective at the end of April. Donald F. Donahue has been elected by the DTCC Board at its April meeting to assume the role of chief operating officer from Mr. Dirks, which includes appointment to the Board of Directors. Donahue will also assume the other titles and responsibilities held by Mr. Dirks for the DTC and NSCC subsidiaries.