MSCI Australia Index Futures Contract To List On ADX

Sydney, August 1, 2000. MSCI and The Australian Derivatives Exchange (ADX)* announced today that the MSCI Australia Index will be the basis for index futures contracts to be listed on the ADX.

The MSCI Australia Index contract, as it will be known, is one of the three initial ADX futures products that will be offered, along with three-month interest rates and five-year bonds.

ADX managing director, John Herron, said "MSCI Australia is the index of choice among most fund managers and is frequently used by offshore holders of Australian equities. The creation of a derivative product based on the index will generate significant institutional and retail interest."

The MSCI Australia Index has been calculated since 1969 and published in real time since May 2000. It is a market capitalization weighted index, currently composed of 57 companies. As of 25 July 2000, the total market capitalization of MSCI Australia was A$444 billion, with an average constituent market capitalization of A$7.8 billion.

"MSCI is widely used as the market measurement index of choice among institutions both in Australia and globally," said John Fildes, regional executive director of MSCI. "Globalization of capital markets is now a reality, and investors demand products and trading conditions that are efficient and consistent."

MSCI is a leading provider of global indices and benchmark related products and services to investors worldwide. Over 1,200 clients worldwide currently use MSCI benchmarks including investment managers, consultants, academics, broker-dealers and other investment professionals. According to MSCI estimates, in North America and Asia over 90% of institutional international equity assets are benchmarked to MSCI indices with over US$ 2 trillion benchmarked globally. In Europe over two thirds of Continental European fund managers currently use MSCI indices as their benchmark according to the July 2000 Merrill Lynch/Gallup survey.

For further information, please contact:

David Browne, ADX, Sydney + 61 401 107 655

Hugh Fraser, Blackie McDonald, Sydney + 612 9929 0200

John Fildes, MSCI, Hong Kong + 852 2848 5050

Simon Midgen, MSCI, London + 44 20 7425 4595

Daniel Bacci, MSCI, New York + 1 212 762 5790

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

MSCI, Morgan Stanley Capital International and MSCI Index are service marks of Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. and have been licensed for use by the Australian Derivatives Exchange. The futures contracts are not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Morgan Stanley Capital International. Nor does Morgan Stanley Capital International make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in any futures contracts.

Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc. (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 the minority shareholder.

*The Australian Derivatives Exchange Limited (ABN 27 083 362 225) proposes to offer a fully electronic derivatives exchange with a global focus to the financial community when it launches.