MSCI Quarterly Index Rebalancing

Geneva, May 17, 2000. MSCI announced today its regularly scheduled quarterly index rebalancing with changes for the following country indices: Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Korea, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Russia and Singapore. These changes will take effect at the close of trading on Wednesday, May 31, 2000.

In addition, three previously announced changes to the MSCI Emerging Markets Free (EMF) Index series and the All Country World Index Free (ACWI Free) series will also become effective as of the close of trading on May 31, 2000. These previously announced changes are the rebalance of MSCI China Free Index, the re-inclusion of Malaysia Free (at full weight), and the increase in the inclusion weight of Taiwan from 50% to 65% of its market capitalization.

The changes announced today will add US$104 billion in market capitalization to the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) series, which includes developed and emerging markets, while the previously announced changes will add US$195 billion, for a total addition of US$299 billion on a pro forma basis. In aggregate, these changes represent a 1.43% increase in the MSCI ACWI market capitalization, which was US$20,918 billion before the changes.

In today's announcement, the major increases in market capitalization in the indices come from Canada, Australia, Korea and Singapore, while there are important changes in Hong Kong and India which do not significantly affect the net market capitalization of the index series. The following is a brief description of some of the more important changes grouped by region.

NORTH AMERICA

Canada – A total of 18 companies will be added and 13 deleted, with a net effect of increasing the market capitalization of the MSCI Canada Index by US$49.8 billion, on a pro forma basis. The five largest additions are in Technology Hardware & Equipment (Celestica and ATI Technologies), Insurance (Manulife Financial and Sun Life Financial Services) and Capital Goods (Ballard Power Systems). Telus Corporation will be deleted from the index due to limited availability of shares for foreigners resulting from the fact that the foreign investment limit has been reached.

ASIA/PACIFIC

Hong Kong – The most significant additions to the MSCI Hong Kong Index will be Pacific Century Cyberworks at 50% of its market capitalization, Henderson Land Development (at 80% of its market capitalization) and Li & Fung. The largest deletion will be Cheung Kong Holdings. This company will exit the MSCI Hong Kong Index due to the increased importance of the cross ownership with Hutchison Whampoa, the largest constituent in the index. (Hutchison is 49.9% owned by Cheung Kong.) In recent years Hutchison has significantly outperformed the Hong Kong market due to its successful investments, including those in Orange, Mannesmann and Vodafone. As a result, the market value of Cheung Kong's stake in Hutchison has increased and now actually exceeds the total market capitalization of Cheung Kong. Because of this, the correlation of the performances of these companies has increased. In aggregate, the market capitalization of the additions to the MSCI Hong Kong index will almost entirely offset the deletions.

Korea – The most substantive change to the MSCI Korea Index will be an increase in the market capitalization weighting of SK Telecom from 50% to 100%, due to the increase in the free float available to foreign investors. This change will add approximately US$12.6 billion to the index. Korea Telecom will be added to the index to reflect its importance in the telecommunications industry. Due to foreign ownership limitations, Korea Telecom will be added at 20% of its market capitalization, increasing the market capitalization of the index by US$4.4 billion. An additional twelve companies will be added to the index including five listed on the Kosdaq Stock Market, while 34 will be deleted due to cross ownership, low liquidity or low market capitalization.

India - There will be fourteen additions to the MSCI India Index, including Zee Telefilms, the leading media company in India, and several companies in the information technology sector. Wipro's market capitalization weighting will be reduced to 30%, as its liquidity is relatively modest for its size and due to its low float (approximately 15%). Ten companies will be deleted from the index. In aggregate, the additions to the index in large part offset the reduction in Wipro's weight and the deletions.

Australia - The market capitalization of the MSCI Australia Index will increase by US$21.3 billion, or 9.5%, as eight companies will be added while two will be deleted. As a leader in the Australian banking industry, Commonwealth Bank (US$14.1 billion) will be added to increase the representation of this industry group in the index.

Singapore Free - The MSCI Singapore Free Index will see its market capitalization rise by US$10.1 billion as five companies will be added and three deleted. The most important addition is Chartered Semiconductor at 80% of its market capitalization.

Indonesia, New Zealand and Philippines Free - Seven companies will be added to the MSCI Indonesia Index while twelve will be deleted. In the MSCI New Zealand Index, two companies will be added and no deletions made. In the MSCI Philippines Free Index, three companies will be added and ten will be deleted.

EMERGING EUROPE AND MIDDLE EAST

Czech Republic, Jordan, Poland and Russia - Five companies will be deleted from the MSCI Czech Republic Index. In the MSCI Jordan Index, one company will be added and four deleted. Three companies will be added while three others will be deleted in the MSCI Poland index. In the MSCI Russia Index, one company will be added.

Note: All pro forma information is as of May 5, 2000.
Unless otherwise stated all comments concern MSCI's standard indices.

For further information on the MSCI quarterly index rebalancing, including the full list of company additions and deletions, please visit our website at www.msci.com or contact:

Evert-Jan ten Brundel, MSCI, London + 44 20 7425 6660
Daniel Bacci, MSCI, New York + 1 212 762 5790
John Fildes, MSCI, Hong Kong + 852 2848 5296

Emma Leeds/Catherine May, Luther Pendragon + 44 20 7353 1500

Note for editors: MSCI Index Methodology - All standard MSCI indices are market capitalization weighted and built from the industry level up. In doing so, MSCI seeks to consistently represent 60% of the market capitalization of each industry group within each country. Industry groups are aggregated into countries and countries are aggregated into regions. MSCI selects stocks with good liquidity and free float, avoids cross-ownership and then applies a market capitalization weight to each stock.

The objective of the quarterly rebalancing is to recognize changes in the underlying country markets and realign the index with the local market while minimizing unnecessary changes.

For a complete description of MSCI's methodology - including corporate actions, dividend treatment, exchange rates and index maintenance - please refer to MSCI Methodology & Index Policy, available from MSCI Client Service or www.msci.com/method.

MSCI is a leading provider of global indices and benchmark related products and services to investors worldwide. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., a global financial services firm and a market leader in securities, asset management, and credit services, is the majority shareholder of MSCI and The Capital Group Companies, Inc., a global investment management group, is a minority shareholder.

MSCI Client Services can be reached on:

London + 44 (0)20 7425 6660
New York + 1 212 762 5790
Hong Kong + 852 2848 6740

And at a further six global locations.