August 21, Re: Eligibility for Distribution from Settlement Fund. Dear Securityholder:

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1 August 21, 2006 Re: Eligibility for Distribution from Settlement Fund Dear Securityholder: We are writing to inform you of your eligibility to receive distribution from a fund The Bank of New York ( BNY ) has established in connection with a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Please read the enclosed documents carefully and completely. They specify important deadlines for participating in the settlement fund, summarize why it was established, what you need to do to participate and how participation may affect your legal rights. For more information, you may obtain a copy of the Order Instituting Proceedings against The Bank of New York by visiting This mailing includes the following enclosures: Claim Form and Release, State Unclaimed Property Contact Information and a Return Envelope. Sincerely, Daniela Kelly Vice President Transfer Agency Services

2 Settlement Agreement Information On April 24, 2006, The Bank of New York ( BNY ) entered into a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) to resolve their inquiry into BNY s compliance with its legal obligation to conduct electronic searches for lost securityholders. In 2004, BNY discovered two problems that were voluntarily reported to the SEC. Because of these problems, BNY did not perform some searches it was required to perform, and the state improperly forfeited, or escheated, assets which may belong to you. As part of the settlement, The Bank of New York agreed to offer certain securityholders the opportunity to recover the value of assets improperly escheated as a result of BNY s failure to perform the required electronic searches from 1998 to Our records indicate that an asset registered in your name may have been escheated without the benefit of the required searches. This makes you eligible to receive a cash distribution pursuant to the settlement. Settlement Funds BNY agreed to establish a settlement fund (the Fund ). The settlement requires BNY to offer payment to the securityholder for the amount of cash that was improperly escheated to the state of residence. BNY has retained a claims administrator, The Garden City Group, Inc., to communicate with securityholders, approve the claims and issue payments to securityholders from the Fund. The escheated asset was in the form of Cash Only, such as an uncashed dividend check or other payment. No underlying security was escheated. You are entitled to receive the full value of the cash that was remitted to the state. Your Options You have two options. You may accept the settlement offer by filing a Claim or you may decline the settlement offer and instead seek to recover your cash through the state s unclaimed property office. Option 1: Accepting the settlement offer By accepting the settlement offer, you agree that you will not make a claim to the state for the value of the settlement funds. You also agree to give BNY the authority to claim and recover the value of the settlement from the state s unclaimed property office. Finally, you agree to release any and all claims you may have against BNY arising out of this escheatment. In order to accept the settlement offer, you must complete and submit the attached Claim Form and Release by the November 30, 2006 deadline. Option 2: Declining the settlement offer Because the assets were escheated to the state as unclaimed property, and have been held by the state on your behalf, you may choose to claim them directly from the state. You may do so at any time; however, if you elect to claim the funds from the state directly, you are no longer eligible to receive a distribution from the settlement fund. If you elect to claim the funds directly from the state, please refer to the attached listing of Abandoned Property State Offices for contact information. (Enclosed) How to Submit Claim You have until November 30, 2006 to claim your assets through the settlement fund. If you do not submit a claim by the claim deadline, you retain your right to claim the cash from the state directly at any time. If you elect to claim through the settlement fund, you must complete and sign the enclosed Claim Form and Release, which has been approved by the SEC. By signing the Claim Form and Release, you will not be able to assert claims covered by the release against BNY. The Claim Form and Release must be postmarked no later than November 30, 2006.

3 What You Must Submit In order to receive a distribution through the settlement Fund, you must submit the following: 1. Claim Form and Release. You must sign and return the enclosed Claim Form and Release. By signing the Release, you will give up your right to pursue any claims covered by the Release against BNY. The Claim Form and Release must be postmarked no later than November 30, If all registered securityholders are not able to execute the Claim Form and Release, or if you have rights to the asset as an heir or assignee, you may need to provide additional documents to establish your legal right to accept this offer. Please contact us at for additional requirements. The Release The decision whether or not to participate in the settlement is entirely voluntary. As noted above, if you elect to receive a distribution from the Fund, you must sign and return the enclosed Claim Form and Release. By signing this form, you will give up your right to pursue any claims covered by the Release against BNY. The Claim Form and Release must be postmarked no later than November 30, Processing Your Claim Upon receipt of the Claim Form and Release and other documents, if applicable, the claims administrator will examine the documentation and approve the claim for payment. BNY will then confirm that the asset is currently held at the state (and has not previously been claimed by you). Upon confirmation, payment will be mailed to you at the address noted on the Claim Form and Release. The payment will be made in the form of a check, payable to the registered securityholder(s), unless other approved documentation has been submitted assigning the payment to another party. Processing of the distribution may be delayed or rejected if examination of the Claim Form and Release and other applicable documentation indicates improperly executed forms, missing documentation, failure to establish rights to the asset or confirmation from the state the asset has already been claimed. The claims administrator will notify the claimant in writing as to the status of a rejected claim and the requirements to resubmit, if applicable. Tax Treatment of the Distribution The settlement payment will not be considered a taxable event. The reason for this is that the settlement payment replaces an uncashed check(s) which was issued several years ago. The earnings from that uncashed distribution were reported to the Internal Revenue Service in the year that the distribution was originally issued. Accordingly, no tax forms concerning the settlement payment will be issued. Please contact your tax advisor for additional information. For More Information If you have questions about the settlement agreement, please call us toll free at For more information, you may obtain a copy of the Order Instituting Proceedings against The Bank of New York by visiting 2

4 Deadline For Submission: November 30, 2006 The Bank of New York Settlement Fund P.O. Box 9000 #6426 Merrick, NY BNY-A *P-BNY-A$F-APOC/1* CLAIM FORM AND RELEASE CLAIMANT IDENTIFICATION: Claim Number: Control Number: WRITE ANY NAME AND ADDRESS CORRECTIONS BELOW: Full name: Complete address: City: State/Country: Zip Code: Please fill in social security number/ taxpayer ID number if box is blank: Daytime Telephone Number: ( ) - Evening Telephone Number: ( ) - Identity of Claimant (Check one): Individual Joint Owners Trustee Other (specify) Partnership Corporation Custodian Address: Security Description: Asset Description: Uncashed checks resulting from ownership of above security. Amount of settlement offer: $ State to which Assets were escheated:

5 *P-BNY-A$F-APOC/2* Please check if applicable: Assets described above have not been previously claimed from the state and I/we are entitled to the assets. RELEASE In consideration for the total payment of the dollar amount specified above, CLAIMANT does hereby fully release, waive and forever discharge BNY and any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, parents, predecessors, successors, or assigns, including, without limitation, any of their respective present or former officers, directors, trustees, employees, agents, attorneys, representatives and shareholders, from any and all claims, demands, debts, rights, causes of action or liabilities whatsoever, including known and unknown claims, now existing or hereafter arising, in law, equity or otherwise, whether under state, federal or foreign statutory or common law, and whether possessed or asserted directly, indirectly, derivatively, representatively or in any other capacity (collectively, claims ), to the extent any such claims are based upon, arise out of or relate to, in whole or in part, to BNY s searches for lost securityholders pursuant to Section 17A of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 17Ad-17 thereunder or BNY s escheatment of the above-identified securities. Print Name of First Claimant Print Name of Second Claimant Print Name of Third Claimant Sign Name of First Claimant Sign Name of Second Claimant Sign Name of Third Claimant Date Date Date Foreign claimants check here. If you check here we will mail you a separate W-8 form which will need to be returned to the Claims Administrator. 2

6 Unclaimed Property State Offices Contact Information State Website Telephone Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho tax.idaho.gov/unclaimed.htm Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland compnet.comp.state.md.us/compliance/unclaimed/default.asp Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana mt.gov/revenue/programsandservices/unclaimedproperty.asp Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington ucp.dor.wa.gov West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming treasurer.state.wy.us Puerto Rico Virgin Islands I8-029-XXXX