Block Trades

In 1994, the "Conseil des Bourses de Valeurs" ("CBV") issued a new regulation in order to facilitate the sale of a block of securities in France, and to avoid such sales to occur on non-French stock exchanges and particularly on SEAQ International.

Under this regulation as amended in 1995, the sale of a block of securities can be made at a price different from the market price. There are two categories of block trades, as described below:

I. Normal Block Trades

The first category of block trade transactions may be carried out at a price different from market price under the following conditions:

(i) the securities traded must be included on a list published by the "Societe des Bourses Francaises" ("SBF"); 61 companies are currently so listed on a permanent basis; the SBF also publishing on a weekly basis a list of companies which are also eligible on a temporary basis (i.e., one month) following either a significant increase of the trading volume or a listing through a