Amouyal, et al.

Litigation Release No. 17605 / July 10, 2002

SEC v. Amouyal, et al., 00-Civ-2029 (S.D.N.Y.)

LAST OF 10 FOREIGN NATIONALS SETTLES INSIDER TRADING ACTION INVOLVING PURCHASES OF FSA STOCK PRIOR TO MARCH 14, 2000 MERGER ANNOUNCEMENT

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that on June 24, 2002 the Honorable Gerald E. Lynch, United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, entered a Final Judgment of Permanent Injunction as to Defendant Gerard Pariente, the sole remaining defendant in this international insider trading case.

Without admitting or denying that he committed any violation, Pariente consented to the entry of the final judgment which permanently enjoins him from violating antifraud provisions of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder and orders him to disgorge $4,000 in profits plus prejudgment interest.

The Commission's amended complaint alleges that Pariente and the other defendants, each of whom resides in or near Paris, France, purchased common stock of Financial Security Assurance Holdings, Ltd. while in possession of material, nonpublic information concerning a contemplated acquisition of FSA by Dexia Group that they knew, or had reason to know, had been communicated to them in breach of fiduciary or similar duties of trust and confidence. As previously announced, the other defendants also settled without admitting or denying that they committed any violation. See Litigation Releases 17388 and 17423.