MERRILL LYNCH USA GOVERNMENT RESERVES

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497 1 d497.htm MERRILL LYNCH USA GOVERNMENT RESERVES MERRILL LYNCH USA GOVERNMENT RESERVES

Merrill Lynch

U.S.A. Government Reserves

Prospectus

December 29, 2008

This Prospectus contains information you should know before investing, including information about risks. Please read it before you invest and keep it for future reference.

NOT FDIC INSURED

MAY LOSE VALUE

NO BANK GUARANTEE

The Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

Dear Shareholder:

BlackRock is pleased to announce several new enhancements to our fund prospectuses. These changes include:

A new plain English style in an updated format to make the prospectus more user-friendly: The redesigned prospectus provides a clearer description of the funds’ investment strategies and risks as well as the various options available to investors for purchasing, exchanging and redeeming fund shares.

The packaging of similar funds: BlackRock has grouped like funds together in the same prospectus, which may result in reduced costs to the funds.

We continue to encourage you to take advantage of electronic delivery of prospectuses in lieu of receiving printed prospectuses as it reduces expenses borne by shareholders, and it is more environmentally friendly. To go paperless, please contact your financial professional or go online to www.blackrock.com/edelivery for more information.

At BlackRock, our interest continues to focus solely on those interests of our clients. We appreciate the trust you give our investment professionals and look forward to providing additional enhancements and services in the future. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact your financial professional or BlackRock at 800-221-7210 or visit our website at www.blackrock.com.

Very truly yours,

BlackRock Funds

This page is not part of the prospectus.

Table of Contents


*Fund Overview*	Key facts and details about the Fund listed in this prospectus including investment objectives, risk factors, fee and expense information, and historical performance information
	Key Facts About Merrill Lynch U.S.A. Government Reserves	4
	Risk/Return Information	5
	Yield Information	5
	Expenses and Fees	5

*Details About the Fund*	How the Fund Invests	7
	Investment Risks	8

*Account Information*	Information about account services, sales charges & waivers, shareholder transactions, and distribution and other payments
	How to Buy, Sell and Transfer Shares	9
	Fund’s Rights	13
	Short-Term Trading Policy	13
	Distribution and Service Plan	13

*Management of the Fund*	Information about BlackRock and the Portfolio Managers
	BlackRock	15
	Conflicts of Interest	15
	Valuation of Fund Investments	16
	Dividends, Distributions and Taxes	17

*Financial Highlights*	Financial Performance of the Fund	18

*General Information*	Shareholder Documents	19
	Certain Fund Policies	19
	Statement of Additional Information	20

*Glossary*	Glossary of Investment Terms	21



*For More Information*	Fund and Service Providers	Inside Back Cover


		Additional Information		Back Cover

Fund Overview

Key Facts About Merrill Lynch U.S.A. Government Reserves

This prospectus provides information about Merrill Lynch U.S.A. Government Reserves, which is referred to in this prospectus as the “Fund.”

The Fund’s manager is BlackRock Advisors, LLC (“BlackRock”). Where applicable, BlackRock refers also to the Fund’s sub-adviser, BlackRock Institutional Management Corporation.

Included in this prospectus are sections that tell you about buying and selling shares, management information, shareholder features of the Fund and your rights as a shareholder. Terms in bold face type in the text are defined in the Glossary section.

What is the Fund’s investment objective?

The investment objective of the Fund is to seek preservation of capital, current income and liquidity available from investing in a diversified portfolio of short term securities, including variable rate securities, that are direct U.S. Government obligations, and repurchase agreements pertaining to such securities with banks and securities dealers.

What are the Fund’s main investment strategies?

The Fund tries to achieve its objective by investing in a diversified portfolio of short term securities. These securities consist of direct U.S. Government obligations and repurchase agreements with banks and securities dealers that involve direct U.S. Government obligations. Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests substantially all (at least 80%) of its assets in direct U.S. Government obligations and related repurchase agreements. Fund management decides which securities to buy and sell based on its assessment of the relative values of different securities and future interest rates. Fund management also seeks to improve the Fund’s yield by taking advantage of yield differentials that regularly occur between securities of a similar kind. For example, market conditions frequently result in similar securities trading at different prices. Fund management seeks to improve the Fund’s yield by buying and selling securities based on these yield differences. The Fund’s dollar-weighted average maturity will not exceed 90 days.

What are the main risks of investing in the Fund?

The Fund cannot guarantee that it will achieve its investment objective.

An investment in the Fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. The Fund could lose money if short-term interest rates rise sharply in a manner not anticipated by Fund management. Although the Fund seeks to preserve the value of your investment at $1.00 per share, it is possible to lose money by investing in the Fund. Notwithstanding the preceding statements, Fund shareholders will be guaranteed to receive $1.00 net asset value for amounts that they held as of September 19, 2008 subject to the terms of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Temporary Guarantee Program for Money Market Funds, which is currently set to expire on April 30, 2009, unless extended.

The Fund is also subject to the risks associated with investments in repurchase agreements. If the party with whom the Fund has entered into a repurchase agreement defaults on its obligation, the Fund may suffer delays and incur costs or even lose money in exercising its rights under the agreement.

For additional information about the Fund’s primary risks, see “Investment Risks” below.

Who should invest?

The Fund may be an appropriate investment for you if you:

Are looking for preservation of capital;

Are looking for current income and liquidity; and

Are investing with short term goals, such as for cash reserves, and want to focus on U.S. Government securities

Risk/Return Information

The chart and table shown below give you a picture of the Fund’s long-term performance. The information shows you how the Fund’s performance has varied year by year and provides some indication of the risks of investing in the Fund. As with all such investments, past performance is not an indication of future results. The information for the Fund in the chart and the table assumes reinvestment of dividends and distributions.

ANNUAL TOTAL RETURNS

Merrill Lynch U.S.A. Government Reserves

As of 12/31

During the ten-year period shown in the bar chart, the highest return for a quarter was 1.44% (quarter ended December 31, 2000) and the lowest return for a quarter was 0.06% (quarter ended March 31, 2004). The year-to-date return as of September 30, 2008 was 1.22%.


As of 12/31/07	1 Year		5 Years		10 Years
Merrill Lynch U.S.A. Government Reserves	4.21	%	2.26	%	3.01	%

Yield Information

The yield on the Fund’s shares normally will fluctuate on a daily basis. Therefore, yields for any given past periods are not an indication or representation of future yields. The Fund’s yield is affected by changes in interest rates, average portfolio maturity, the types and quality of portfolio securities held and operating expenses. Current yield information may not provide the basis for a comparison with bank deposits or other investments, which pay a fixed yield over a stated period of time and may not be comparable to the yield on shares of other money market funds. To obtain the Fund’s current 7-day yield, call 1-800-221-7210.

Expenses and Fees

As a shareholder you pay certain fees and expenses. The tables below show the different fees and expenses that you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the Fund. The “Annual Fund Operating Expenses” table is based on expenses for the most recent fiscal year.


Annual Fund Operating Expenses (Expenses that are deducted from Fund assets)
Management Fee	0.450	%
Distribution and/or Service (12b-1) Fees¹	0.125	%
Other Expenses²	0.305	%
Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses¹	0.88	%

¹	The Fund has adopted a service plan pursuant to Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act under which the Fund is authorized to pay the Distributor at an annual rate of 0.125% of the average daily net asset value of the Fund.

²	Financial Data Services, Inc. provides transfer agency services to the Fund. The Fund pays a fee for these services. BlackRock or its affiliates also provide certain accounting services to the Fund and the Fund reimburses BlackRock or its affiliates for these services.

Example:

This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the Fund with the cost of investing in other money market funds. We are assuming an initial investment of $10,000 and a 5% total return each year with no changes in operating expenses. Although your actual cost may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be:

Details About the Fund

How the Fund Invests

Investment Goal

The investment objective of the Fund is to seek preservation of capital, current income and liquidity available from investing in a diversified portfolio of short term securities, including variable rate securities, that are direct U.S. Government obligations, and repurchase agreements pertaining to such securities with banks and securities dealers.

Investment Process

In seeking to achieve the Fund’s objective, Fund management varies the kinds of direct U.S. Government obligations in the portfolio, the relative balance between those securities and repurchase agreements in the portfolio, and the average maturity of the portfolio. Fund management makes decisions on which securities to buy and sell based on its assessment of the relative values of different securities and future interest rates.

Primary Investment Strategies

Among the direct U.S. Government obligations the Fund may buy are:

U.S. Treasury bills, bonds, notes and stripped securities (“strips”), which differ mainly in the length of their maturity

U.S. Government agency securities that are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States

Variable rate direct U.S. Government obligations, which have interest rates that reset periodically prior to maturity (usually at 30, 90, or 180-day intervals) based on a specific index or interest rate

Deposit receipts, which represent interests in component parts of U.S. Treasury bonds or other U.S. Government or U.S. Government agency securities

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests substantially all (at least 80%) of its assets in direct U.S. Government obligations and related repurchase agreements. This policy is a non-fundamental policy of the Fund and may not be changed without 60 days’ notice to shareholders.

The Fund may invest in short term direct U.S. Government obligations with maturities of up to 397 days (13 months). The Fund’s dollar-weighted average portfolio maturity will not exceed 90 days. Short term direct U.S. Government obligations have little credit risk.

The Fund may enter into repurchase agreements only with a member bank of the Federal Reserve System, a primary dealer in U.S. Government securities or an affiliate of a primary dealer. The Fund may also invest in the U.S. Government securities described above pursuant to purchase and sale contracts.

The Fund may not invest in securities that are issued or guaranteed by U.S. Government entities, but are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.

Other Strategies

In addition to the main strategies discussed above, the Fund may use certain other investment strategies. The Fund may also invest or engage in the following investments/strategies:

When-Issued Securities, Delayed Delivery Securities and Forward Commitments — The purchase or sale of securities on a when-issued basis or on a delayed delivery basis or through a forward commitment involves the purchase or sale of securities by the Fund with payment and delivery taking place in the future. These purchases may be for periods of up to 180 days. The Fund enters into these transactions to obtain what is considered an advantageous price to the Fund at the time of entering into the transactions.

The Fund may also lend its portfolio securities.

ABOUT THE PORTFOLIO MANAGEMENT TEAM OF THE FUND

The Fund is managed by a team of financial professionals led by John Ng.

Investment Risks

This section contains a summary discussion of the general risks of investing in the Fund. “Investment Policies” in the Statement of Additional Information (the “SAI”) also includes more information about the Fund, its investments and the related risks. As with any fund, there can be no guarantee that the Fund will meet its objective or that the Fund’s performance will be positive for any period of time. An investment in the Fund is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or by any bank or governmental agency. Notwithstanding the preceding statements, Fund shareholders will be guaranteed to receive $1.00 net asset value for amounts that they held as of September 19, 2008 subject to the terms of the U.S. Treasury’s Temporary Guarantee Program for Money Market Funds, which is currently set to expire on April 30, 2009, unless extended.

Main Risks of Investing in the Fund:

Market Risk and Selection Risk — Market risk is the risk that one or more markets in which the Fund invests will go down in value. Selection risk is the risk that the securities that are selected by Fund management may underperform the market or other securities selected by other funds. This means you may lose money.

Interest Rate Risk — Interest rate risk is the risk that the value of a debt security may fall when interest rates rise. In general, the market price of debt securities with longer maturities will go up or down more in response to changes in interest rates than the market price of shorter term securities.

Repurchase Agreements, Purchase and Sale Contracts Risk — If the other party to a repurchase agreement or purchase and sale contract defaults on its obligation under the agreement, the Fund may suffer delays and incur costs or lose money in exercising its rights under the agreement. If the seller fails to repurchase the security in either situation and the market value of the security declines, the Fund may lose money.

The Fund may also be subject to certain other risks associated with its investments and investment strategies, including:

Borrowing Risk — The Fund may borrow only to meet redemptions. Borrowing may exaggerate changes in the net asset value of Fund shares and in the yield on the Fund’s portfolio. Borrowing will cost the Fund interest expense and other fees. The cost of borrowing money may reduce the Fund’s return.

When-Issued and Delayed Delivery Securities and Forward Commitments Risk — When-issued and delayed delivery securities and forward commitments involve the risk that the security the Fund buys will lose value prior to its delivery. There also is the risk that the security will not be issued or that the other party to the transaction will not meet its obligation. If this occurs, the Fund loses both the investment opportunity for the assets it set aside to pay for the security and any gain in the security’s price.

Securities Lending Risk — The Fund may lend securities with a value up to 33¹/3% of its total assets to financial institutions that provide cash or securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government as collateral. Securities lending involves the risk that the borrower may fail to return the securities in a timely manner or at all. As a result, the Fund may lose money and there may be a delay in recovering the loaned securities. The Fund could also lose money if it does not recover the securities and/or the value of the collateral falls, including the value of investments made with cash collateral. These events could trigger adverse tax consequences for the Fund.

Account Information

How to Buy, Sell and Transfer Shares

The chart on the following pages summarizes how to buy, sell and transfer shares through your financial professional or financial intermediary. You may also buy, sell and transfer shares through Financial Data Services, Inc. (the “Transfer Agent”) if your account is held directly with the Transfer Agent. To learn more about buying, selling or transferring shares through the Transfer Agent, call (800) 221-7210. Because the selection of a mutual fund involves many considerations, your financial professional or financial intermediary may help you with this decision.

The Fund’s shares are distributed by BlackRock Investments, Inc. (the “Distributor”), an affiliate of BlackRock.

The Fund may reject any purchase order, modify or waive the minimum initial or subsequent investment requirements for any shareholder and suspend and resume the sale of shares of the Fund at any time, for any reason.

In addition. the Fund may waive certain requirements regarding the purchase, sale or transfer of shares described below.


How to Buy Shares	Your Choices	Important Information for You to Know

Initial Purchase	Determine the amount of your investment	The minimum initial investment for the Fund is $5,000 for all accounts except: • $300 for accounts advised by banks and registered investment advisers • $100 for retirement plans (The minimums for initial investments may be waived under certain circumstances.)
	Have your financial professional or financial intermediary submit your purchase order	The price of your shares is based on the next calculation of the Fund’s net asset value after your order is placed. Any purchase orders placed prior to the close of business on the New York Stock Exchange (the “Exchange”) (generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern time) will be priced at the net asset value determined that day. Certain financial intermediaries, however, may require submission of orders prior to that time. Purchase orders placed after that time will be priced at the net asset value determined on the next business day. The Fund may reject any order to buy shares and may suspend the sale of shares at any time. Other financial intermediaries may charge a processing fee to confirm a purchase.
	Purchase by wire	If you maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you may purchase shares of the Fund by wiring Federal Funds to Bank of America, 1401 Elm Street, Dallas, Texas 75202. You should give your financial institution the following wire instructions: ABA#026009593 Merrill Lynch Money Markets, DDA#3756240690, FFC Client name and Fund/account number. The wire should be identified as a payment to Merrill Lynch U.S.A. Government Reserves and should include the shareholder’s name and account number. If your account is not held directly with the Transfer Agent, you should contact your financial professional or financial intermediary.
	Or contact the Transfer Agent	To purchase shares directly, call the Transfer Agent at (800) 221-7210 and request a purchase application. Mail the completed application to the Transfer Agent at the address on the inside back cover of this prospectus.
Add to Your Investment	Purchase additional shares	The minimum initial investment for additional purchases is $1,000 for all accounts except: • $100 for accounts advised by banks and registered investment advisers • $1 for retirement plans (The minimums for additional purchases may be waived under certain circumstances.)
	Acquire additional shares by reinvesting dividends	All dividends and capital gains distributions are automatically reinvested. If you want to receive your dividends in cash you may enroll in the Accrued Monthly Payout Plan. To make any changes to your dividend and/or capital gains distribution options, please call (800) 221-7210, or contact your financial professional.
	Participate in the Automatic Investment Plan (AIP)	If you maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you may invest a specific amount ($50 minimum) on a periodic basis through certain Merrill Lynch investment or central asset accounts. If your account is not held directly with the Tranfer Agent, you should contact your financial professional or financial intermediary.


How to Sell Shares	Your Choices	Important Information for You to Know

Full or Partial Redemption of Shares (continued)	Sell through the Transfer Agent (continued)	Payment by Wire Transfer: If you maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you may arrange to have redemption proceeds of $5,000 or more wired in Federal Funds to a pre-designated bank account. The application designating the bank must be medallion signature guaranteed. The redemption request may be made by telephone, wire or letter to the Transfer Agent. If your redemption request is made prior to the determination of net asset value of the Fund, generally, 4 p.m. (Eastern time), redemption proceeds will be wired to your predesignated bank account on the next business day. If your account is not held directly with the Transfer Agent, you should contact your financial professional or financial intermediary. Securities dealers, including Merrill Lynch, may charge a fee to process a Federal Funds redemption.
		Automatic Redemption. If you maintain other securities accounts with Merrill Lynch (other than margin accounts), Merrill Lynch may use its automatic redemption procedure to satisfy amounts you may owe either as a result of account fees and expenses or as a result of purchases or other transactions in those securities accounts. Unless you notify Merrill Lynch to the contrary, your securities account will be scanned each day prior to the determination of net asset value of the Fund (generally 4:00 p.m. Eastern time) and, after application of any cash balances in the account, a sufficient number of Fund shares may be redeemed to satisfy any amounts you may owe Merrill Lynch. Such redemption will be made the day before payment is due, and Merrill Lynch will receive redemption proceeds on the day following such redemption. Except under certain circumstances, you will receive all dividends declared and reinvested through the date of redemption.
Sell Shares Systematically	Participate in the Fund’s Systematic Withdrawal Plan	If you maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you can choose to receive systematic payments from your Fund account on a monthly or quarterly basis. Contact the Transfer Agent at the telephone number on the inside back cover of this prospectus for an application. If your account is not held directly with the Transfer Agent, you should contact your financial professional or financial intermediary.
		* * * If you make a redemption request before the Fund has collected payment for the purchase of shares, the Fund may delay mailing your proceeds. This delay will usually not exceed ten days.

Fund’s Rights

The Fund may:

Suspend the right of redemption if trading is halted or restricted on the Exchange or under other emergency conditions described in the Investment Company Act;

Postpone the date of payment upon redemption if trading is halted or restricted on the Exchange or under other emergency conditions described in the Investment Company Act or if a redemption request is made before the Fund has collected payment for the purchase of shares.

Redeem shares for property other than cash if conditions exist which make cash payments undesirable in accordance with its rights under the Investment Company Act; and

Redeem shares involuntarily in certain cases, such as when the value of a shareholder account falls below a specified level

Note on Low Balance Accounts. Because of the high cost of maintaining smaller shareholder accounts, the Fund may redeem the shares in your account (without charging any deferred sales charge) if the net asset value of your account falls below $500 due to redemptions you have made. You will be notified that the value of your account is less than $500 before the Fund makes an involuntary redemption. You will then have 60 days to make an additional investment to bring the value of your account to at least $500 before the Fund takes any action. This involuntary redemption does not apply to accounts of authorized qualified employee benefit plans, selected fee-based programs or accounts established under the Uniform Gifts or Transfers to Minors Acts.

Short-Term Trading Policy

Market timing is an investment technique involving frequent short-term trading of mutual fund shares designed to exploit market movements or inefficiencies in the way a mutual fund prices its shares. The Board of Trustees has evaluated the risks of market timing activities by the Fund’s shareholders and has determined that due to (i) the Fund’s policy of seeking to maintain the Fund’s net asset value per share at $1.00 each day, (ii) the nature of the Fund’s portfolio holdings, and (iii) the nature of the Fund’s shareholders, it is unlikely that (a) market timing would be attempted by the Fund’s shareholders or (b) any attempts to market time the Fund by shareholders would result in a negative impact to the Fund or its shareholders. As a result, the Board of Trustees has not adopted policies and procedures to deter short-term trading in the Fund. There can be no assurances, however, that the Fund may not, on occasion, serve as a temporary or short-term investment vehicle for those who seek to market time funds offered by other investment companies.

Distribution and Service Plan

The Fund has adopted a plan (the “Plan”) that allows the Fund to pay fees for the sale of its shares under Rule 12b-1 of the Investment Company Act.

Plan Payments

Under the Plan, Fund shares pay a fee to the Distributor, and/or affiliates of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (“PNC”) or Merrill Lynch (including BlackRock) for account maintenance, sales and promotional activities and services. The fee may be used to pay the Distributor and affiliates of PNC or Merrill Lynch (including BlackRock) for sales

support services provided in connection with the sale of shares. The fee may also be used to pay financial intermediaries (including BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch and their affiliates) for sales support services and related expenses. Fund shares pay a maximum fee per year that is a percentage of the average daily net asset value of the Fund attributable to such shares.

Because the fees paid by the Fund under the Plan are paid out of Fund assets on an ongoing basis, over time these fees will increase the cost of your investment and may cost you more than paying other types of sales charges. For more information on the Plan, including a complete list of services provided thereunder, see the SAI.

Other Payments by the Fund

In addition to, rather than in lieu of, distribution and shareholder servicing fees that the Fund may pay to a financial intermediary pursuant to the Plan and fees the Fund pays to its Transfer Agent, BlackRock, on behalf of the Fund, may enter into non-Plan agreements with a financial intermediary pursuant to which the Fund will pay a financial intermediary for administrative, networking, recordkeeping, subtransfer agency and shareholder services. These non-Plan payments are generally based on either (1) a percentage of the average daily net assets of Fund shareholders serviced by a financial intermediary or (2) a fixed dollar amount for each account serviced by a financial intermediary. The aggregate amount of these payments may be substantial.

Other Payments by BlackRock

The Plan permits BlackRock, the Distributor and their affiliates to make payments relating to distribution and sales support activities out of their past profits or other sources available to them (and not as an additional charge to the Fund). From time to time, BlackRock, the Distributor or their affiliates also may pay a portion of the fees for administrative, networking, recordkeeping, sub-transfer agency and shareholder services described above at its or their own expense and out of its or their legitimate profits. BlackRock, the Distributor and their affiliates may compensate affiliated and unaffiliated financial intermediaries for the sale and distribution of shares of the Fund or for these other services to the Fund and shareholders. These payments would be in addition to the Fund payments described in this Prospectus and may be a fixed dollar amount, may be based on the number of customer accounts maintained by the financial intermediary, or may be based on a percentage of the value of shares sold to, or held by, customers of the financial intermediary. The aggregate amount of these payments by BlackRock, the Distributor and their affiliates may be substantial. Payments by BlackRock may include amounts that are sometimes referred to as “revenue sharing” payments. In some circumstances, these revenue sharing payments may create an incentive for a financial intermediary, its employees or associated persons to recommend or sell shares of the Fund to you. Please contact your financial intermediary for details about payments it may receive from the Fund or from BlackRock, the Distributor or their affiliates. For more information, see the SAI.

Management of the Fund

BlackRock

BlackRock, the Fund’s manager, manages the Fund’s investments and its business operations subject to the oversight of the Board of Trustees of the Fund. While BlackRock is ultimately responsible for the management of the Fund, it is able to draw upon the trading, research and expertise of its asset management affiliates for portfolio decisions and management with respect to certain portfolio securities. BlackRock is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc.

BlackRock, a registered investment adviser, was organized in 1994 to perform advisory services for investment companies. BlackRock Institutional Management Corporation, the Fund’s sub-adviser (the “Sub-Adviser”), is a registered investment adviser organized in 1977. BlackRock and its affiliates had approximately $1.259 trillion in investment company and other portfolio assets under management as of September 30, 2008.

The Fund has entered into a management agreement (the “Management Agreement”) with BlackRock under which BlackRock receives for its services to the Fund a fee at the annual rate of 0.45% of the Fund’s average daily net assets. For the fiscal year ended August 31, 2008, BlackRock received a fee at the annual rate of 0.45% of the Fund’s average daily net assets.

BlackRock has a sub-advisory agreement with the Sub-Adviser, an affiliate of BlackRock, under which BlackRock pays the Sub-Adviser for services it provides a fee equal to a percentage of the management fee paid to BlackRock under the Management Agreement. The Sub-Adviser is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio.

A discussion of the basis for the Board of Trustees’ approval of the Management Agreement with BlackRock and the sub-advisory agreement between BlackRock and the Sub-Adviser is included in the Fund’s annual shareholder report for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2008.

From time to time, a manager, analyst, or other employee of BlackRock or its affiliates may express views regarding a particular asset class, company, security, industry, or market sector. The views expressed by any such person are the views of only that individual as of the time expressed and do not necessarily represent the views of BlackRock or any other person within the BlackRock organization. Any such views are subject to change at any time based upon market or other conditions and BlackRock disclaims any responsibility to update such views. These views may not be relied on as investment advice and, because investment decisions for the Fund are based on numerous factors, may not be relied on as an indication of trading intent on behalf of the Fund.

Conflicts of Interest

The investment activities of BlackRock and its affiliates (including, for these purposes, Merrill Lynch, BlackRock, Inc., PNC and their affiliates, directors, partners, trustees, managing members, officers and employees (collectively, the “Affiliates”)) in the management of, or their interest in, their own accounts and other accounts they manage, may present conflicts of interest that could disadvantage the Fund and its shareholders. BlackRock and its Affiliates provide investment management services to other funds and discretionary managed accounts that follow an investment program similar to the funds. BlackRock and its Affiliates are involved worldwide with a broad spectrum of financial services and asset management activities and may engage in the ordinary course of business in activities in which their interests or the interests of their clients may conflict with those of the Fund. One or more Affiliates act or may act as an investor, investment banker, research provider, investment manager, financier, advisor, market maker, trader, prime broker, lender, agent and principal, and have other direct and indirect interests, in securities, currencies and other instruments which the Fund directly and indirectly invests. Thus, it is likely that the Fund will have multiple business relationships with and will invest in, engage in transactions with, make voting decisions with respect to, or obtain services from entities for which an Affiliate performs or seeks to perform investment banking or other services. One or more Affiliates may engage in proprietary trading and advise accounts and funds that have investment objectives similar to those of the Fund and/or that engage in and compete for transactions in the same types of securities, currencies and other instruments as the Fund. The trading activities of these Affiliates are carried out without reference to positions held directly or indirectly by the Fund and may result in an Affiliate having positions that are adverse to those of the Fund. No Affiliate is under any obligation to share any investment opportunity, idea or strategy with the Fund. As a result, an Affiliate may compete with the Fund for appropriate investment opportunities. The results of the Fund’s investment activities, therefore, may differ from those of an Affiliate and of other accounts managed by an Affiliate, and it is possible that the Fund could sustain losses during periods in which one or more Affiliates and other accounts achieve profits on their trading for proprietary or other accounts. The opposite result is also possible. In addition, the Fund may, from time to time, enter into transactions in which an Affiliate or its other

clients have an adverse interest. Furthermore, transactions undertaken by an Affiliate or Affiliate-advised clients may adversely impact the Fund. Transactions by one or more Affiliate-advised clients or BlackRock may have the effect of diluting or otherwise disadvantaging the values, prices or investment strategies of the Fund. The Fund’s activities may be limited because of regulatory restrictions applicable to one or more Affiliates, and/or their internal policies designed to comply with such restrictions. In addition, the Fund may invest in securities of companies with which an Affiliate has or is trying to develop investment banking relationships or in which an Affiliate has significant debt or equity investments. The Fund also may invest in securities of companies for which an Affiliate provides or may some day provide research coverage. An Affiliate may have business relationships with and purchase or distribute or sell services or products from or to distributors, consultants or others who recommend the Fund or who engage in transactions with or for the Fund, and may receive compensation for such services. The Fund may also make brokerage and other payments to Affiliates in connection with the Fund’s portfolio investment transactions.

Under a securities lending program approved by the Fund’s Board of Trustees, the Fund has retained an Affiliate to serve as the securities lending agent for the Fund to the extent that the Fund participates in the securities lending program. For these services, the lending agent may receive a fee from the Fund, including a fee based on the returns earned on the Fund’s investment of the cash received as collateral for the loaned securities. In addition, one or more Affiliates may be among the entities to which the Fund may lend its portfolio securities under the securities lending program.

The activities of BlackRock and its Affiliates may give rise to other conflicts of interest that could disadvantage the Fund and its shareholders. BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures designed to address these potential conflicts of interest. See the SAI for further information.

Valuation of Fund Investments

When you buy shares, you pay the net asset value (normally $1.00 per share) without a sales charge. This is the offering price. Shares are also redeemed at their net asset value. The Fund calculates the net asset value (generally by using market quotations) each day the Exchange is open as of the close of business on the Exchange, based on prices at the time of closing. The Exchange generally closes at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. The net asset value used in determining your share price is the next one calculated after your purchase or redemption order becomes effective. Share purchase orders are effective on the date Federal Funds become available to the Fund.

The amortized cost method is used in calculating net asset value, meaning that the calculation is based on a valuation of the assets held by the Fund at cost, with an adjustment for any discount or premium on a security at the time of purchase.

Generally, trading in foreign securities, U.S. government securities and money market instruments and certain fixed income securities is substantially completed each day at various times prior to the close of business on the Exchange. The values of such securities used in computing the net asset value of a Fund’s shares are determined as of such times.

The Fund may accept orders from certain authorized financial intermediaries or their designees. The Fund will be deemed to receive an order when accepted by the intermediary or designee and the order will receive the net asset value next computed by the Fund after such acceptance. If the payment for a purchase order is not made by a designated later time, the order will be canceled and the financial intermediary could be held liable for any losses.

The Fund has been accepted into the U.S. Treasury Department’s Temporary Guarantee Program (the “Program”) for Money Market Funds, which the U.S. Treasury has announced has been extended through April 30, 2009. The Board of Trustees has elected to extend coverage under the Program on behalf of the Fund.

The Program provides a guarantee to shareholders of the Fund up to the amount held in the Fund as of the close of business on September 19, 2008. If the number of shares an investor holds fluctuates, the investor will be covered for either the number of shares held as of the close of business on September 19, 2008, or the current amount, whichever is less. This means that any increase in the number of shares an investor holds over the amount held after the close of business on September 19, 2008 is not covered under the Program. It also means that if an investor’s balance is below its September 19, 2008 level, the investor can bring it back up to that level and it will be covered. Note that the Program applies only to the account in which the shares were held on September 19, 2008. If an investor closes an account and reinvests in the Fund through a new account, the new balance would not be covered.

The Program is temporary and set to expire on April 30, 2009, at which point the Treasury Department can opt to extend it to no later than September 18, 2009. The Fund has paid to be covered under the Program. For the initial three months of the Program (ending December 18, 2008), the Fund paid a participation fee of 0.01% of the Fund’s net asset value as of September 19, 2008 and, for the extension period (ending April 30, 2009), the Fund paid a participation fee of 0.015% of the Fund’s net asset value as of September 19, 2008. The Program is implemented under the Treasury’s Exchange Stabilization Fund (ESF), and guarantee payments under the Program will not exceed the amount available within the ESF at the date of payment. Currently, ESF assets are about $50 billion. For additional information on the Program, you can visit the U.S. Treasury’s website at www.ustreas.gov.

Dividends, Distributions and Taxes

The Fund will distribute dividends of net investment income, if any, daily and net realized capital gains, if any, at least annually. Income dividends are reinvested daily and capital gain dividends are reinvested at least annually in the form of additional shares at net asset value. You will begin accruing dividends on the day following the date your purchase becomes effective. Dividends that are declared but unpaid will remain in the gross assets of the Fund and will, therefore, continue to earn income for the Fund’s shareholders. In most cases, shareholders will receive statements monthly or quarterly as to such reinvestments. Shareholders redeeming their holdings will receive all dividends declared and reinvested through the date of redemption, except where they request a transaction that settles on a same-day basis. In that case, unless otherwise requested, shareholders will receive all dividends declared and reinvested through the date immediately preceding the date of redemption. The Fund intends to make distributions, most of which will be taxed as ordinary income. Capital gains paid by the Fund may be taxable to you at different rates depending on how long the Fund has held the assets sold.

You will pay tax on dividends from the Fund even if you receive them in the form of additional shares. If you redeem Fund shares, you generally will be treated as having sold your shares and any gain on the transaction may be subject to tax. Certain dividend income and long-term capital gains are eligible for taxation at a reduced rate that applies to non-corporate shareholders. However, to the extent that the Fund’s distributions are derived from income on short term debt securities and short term capital gains, such distributions will generally not be eligible for taxation at the reduced rate.

If you are neither a tax resident nor a citizen of the United States or if you are a foreign entity, the Fund’s ordinary income dividends (which include distributions of net short-term capital gain) will generally be subject to a 30% U.S. withholding tax, unless a lower treaty rate applies. However, for taxable years of the Fund beginning before January 1, 2010, certain distributions designated by the Fund as either interest related dividends or short term capital gain dividends and paid to a foreign shareholder would be eligible for an exemption from U.S. withholding tax.

Dividends and interest received by the Fund may give rise to withholding and other taxes imposed by foreign countries. Tax conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes.

By law, your dividends will be subject to a withholding tax if you have not provided a taxpayer identification number or social security number or the number you have provided is incorrect.

This Section summarizes some of the consequences under current Federal tax law of an investment in the Fund. It is not a substitute for personal tax advice. Consult your personal tax adviser about the potential tax consequences of an investment in the Fund under all applicable tax laws.

Financial Highlights

The Financial Highlights table is intended to help you understand the Fund’s financial performance for the past five years. Certain information reflects the financial results for a single Fund share. The total returns in the table represent the rate an investor would have earned or lost on an investment in the Fund (assuming reinvestment of all dividends). The information has been audited by Deloitte & Touche LLP, whose report, along with the Fund’s financial statements, is included in the Fund’s Annual Report, which is available upon request.


	Year Ended August 31,
	2008			2007			2006			2005			2004
Per Share Operating Performance
Net asset value, beginning of year	$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00
Net investment income		0.0234			0.0437			0.0349			0.0153			0.0030
Net realized and unrealized gain (loss)		—			0.0001			0.0003			(0.0001	)		(0.0008	)
Net increase from investment operations		0.0234			0.0438			0.0352			0.0152			0.0022
Dividends and distributions from:
Net investment income		(0.0234	)		(0.0437	)		(0.0349	)		(0.0153	)		(0.0030	)
Net realized gain		—			—	¹		—	¹		—	¹		—	¹
Total dividends and distributions		(0.0234	)		(0.0437	)		(0.0349	)		(0.0153	)		(0.0030	)
Net asset value, end of year	$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00		$	1.00
Total Investment Return
Total investment return		2.40	%		4.42	%		3.55	%		1.54	%		0.30	%
Ratios to Average Net Assets
Total expenses		0.88	%		0.93	%		0.92	%		0.94	%		0.89	%
Net investment income		2.31	%		4.37	%		3.57	%		1.50	%		0.29	%
Supplemental Data
Net assets, end of year (000)	$	128,989		$	122,474		$	142,491		$	106,745		$	133,209

¹	Amount is less than $(0.0001) per share.

General Information

Shareholder Documents

Electronic Access to Annual Reports, Semi-Annual Reports and Prospectuses

Electronic copies of most financial reports and prospectuses are available on BlackRock’s website. Shareholders can sign up for e-mail notifications of quarterly statements, annual and semi-annual reports and prospectuses by enrolling in the Fund’s electronic delivery program. To enroll:

Shareholders Who Hold Accounts with Investment Advisers, Banks or Brokerages: Please contact your financial professional. Please note that not all investment advisers, banks or brokerages may offer this service.

Shareholders Who Hold Accounts Directly With BlackRock:

Access the BlackRock website at http://www.blackrock.com/edelivery

Log into your account

Delivery of Shareholder Documents

The Fund delivers only one copy of shareholder documents, including prospectuses, shareholder reports and proxy statements, to shareholders with multiple accounts at the same address. This practice is known as “householding” and is intended to eliminate duplicate mailings and reduce expenses. Mailings of your shareholder documents may be householded indefinitely unless you instruct us otherwise. If you do not want the mailing of these documents to be combined with those for other members of your household, please contact the Fund at (800) 221-7210.

Certain Fund Policies

Anti-Money Laundering Requirements

The Fund is subject to the USA PATRIOT Act (the “Patriot Act”). The Patriot Act is intended to prevent the use of the U.S. financial system in furtherance of money laundering, terrorism or other illicit activities. Pursuant to requirements under the Patriot Act, the Fund may request information from shareholders to enable it to form a reasonable belief that it knows the true identity of its shareholders. This information will be used to verify the identity of investors or, in some cases, the status of financial advisers; it will be used only for compliance with the requirements of the Patriot Act.

The Fund reserves the right to reject purchase orders from persons who have not submitted information sufficient to allow the Fund to verify their identity. The Fund also reserves the right to redeem any amounts in the Fund from persons whose identity it is unable to verify on a timely basis. It is the Fund’s policy to cooperate fully with appropriate regulators in any investigations conducted with respect to potential money laundering, terrorism or other illicit activities.

BlackRock Privacy Principles

BlackRock is committed to maintaining the privacy of its current and former fund investors and individual clients (collectively, “Clients”) and to safeguarding their nonpublic personal information. The following information is provided to help you understand what personal information BlackRock collects, how we protect that information and why in certain cases we share such information with select parties.

If you are located in a jurisdiction where specific laws, rules or regulations require BlackRock to provide you with additional or different privacy-related rights beyond what is set forth below, then BlackRock will comply with those specific laws, rules or regulations.

BlackRock obtains or verifies personal nonpublic information from and about you from different sources, including the following: (i) information we receive from you or, if applicable, your financial intermediary, on applications, forms or other documents; (ii) information about your transactions with us, our affiliates, or others; (iii) information we receive from a consumer reporting agency; and (iv) from visits to our website.

BlackRock does not sell or disclose to nonaffiliated third parties any nonpublic personal information about its Clients, except as permitted by law, or as is necessary to respond to regulatory requests or to service Client accounts. These nonaffiliated third parties are required to protect the confidentiality and security of this information and to use it only for its intended purpose.

We may share information with our affiliates to service your account or to provide you with information about other BlackRock products or services that may be of interest to you. In addition, BlackRock restricts access to nonpublic

personal information about its Clients to those BlackRock employees with a legitimate business need for the information. BlackRock maintains physical, electronic and procedural safeguards that are designed to protect the nonpublic personal information of its Clients, including procedures relating to the proper storage and disposal of such information.

Statement of Additional information

If you would like further information about the Fund, including how it invests, please see the SAI.

For a discussion of the Fund’s policies and procedures regarding the selective disclosure of its portfolio holdings, please see the SAI.

Glossary

Glossary of Investment Terms

Short Term Securities — securities with maturities of not more than 397 days (13 months).

Direct U.S. Government Obligations — obligations that are issued by the U.S. Government and/or have their principal and interest guaranteed and backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.

Repurchase Agreements — agreements where another party sells securities to the Fund and at the same time agrees to repurchase the securities at a particular time and price.

Stripped Securities — securities that are created when the issuer separates the interest and principal components of an instrument and sells them as separate securities.

Yield — the income generated by an investment in the Fund.

Glossary of Expense Terms

Annual Fund Operating Expenses — expenses that cover the costs of operating the Fund.

Distribution Fees — fees used to support the Fund’s marketing and distribution efforts, such as compensating financial professionals and other financial intermediaries, advertising and promotion.

Management Fee — a fee paid to BlackRock for managing the Fund.

Service Fees — fees used to compensate securities dealers and other financial intermediaries for certain shareholder servicing activities.

Glossary of Other Terms

Dividends — includes ordinary income and capital gains paid to shareholders. Dividends may be reinvested in additional Fund shares as they are paid.

Net Asset Value — the market value of the Fund’s total assets after deducting liabilities, divided by the number of shares outstanding.

For More Information

Fund and Service Providers

FUND

Merrill Lynch U.S.A. Government Reserves

100 Bellevue Parkway

Wilmington, Delaware 19809

(800) 221-7210

MANAGER

BlackRock Advisors, LLC

100 Bellevue Parkway

Wilmington, Delaware 19809

SUB-ADVISER

BlackRock Institutional Management Corporation

100 Bellevue Parkway

Wilmington, Delaware 19809

TRANSFER AGENT

Financial Data Services, Inc.

4800 Deer Lake Drive

Jacksonville, Florida 32246-6484

INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

Deloitte & Touche LLP

750 College Road East

Princeton, New Jersey 08540

ACCOUNTING SERVICES PROVIDER

State Street Bank and Trust Company

500 College Road East

Princeton, New Jersey 08540

DISTRIBUTOR

BlackRock Investments, Inc.

40 East 52nd Street

New York, New York 10022

CUSTODIAN

The Bank of New York Mellon

One Wall Street

New York, New York 10286

COUNSEL

Sidley Austin LLP

787 Seventh Avenue

New York, New York 10019-6018

Additional Information

This prospectus contains important information you should know before investing, including information about risks. Read it carefully and keep it for future reference. More information about the Fund is available at no charge upon request. This information includes:

Annual/Semi-Annual Reports

These reports contain additional information about the Fund’s investments. The annual report describes the Fund’s performance, lists portfolio holdings, and discusses recent market conditions, economic trends and Fund investment strategies that significantly affected the Fund’s performance for the last fiscal year.

Statement of Additional Information

A Statement of Additional Information, dated December 29, 2008, has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The SAI, which includes additional information about the Fund, may be obtained free of charge, along with the Fund’s annual and semi-annual reports, by calling (800) 221-7210. The SAI, as supplemented from time to time, is incorporated by reference into this Prospectus.

BlackRock Investor Services

Representatives are available to discuss account balance information, mutual fund prospectuses, literature, programs and services available. Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Eastern time), Monday-Friday. Call: (800) 221-7210.

Purchases and Redemptions

Call your financial professional or BlackRock Investor Services at (800) 221-7210.

World Wide Web

General fund information and specific fund performance, including SAI and annual/semi-annual reports, can be accessed free of charge at www.blackrock.com/funds. Mutual fund prospectuses and literature can also be requested via this website.

Written Correspondence

Merrill Lynch U.S.A. Government Reserves

c/o Financial Data Services, Inc.

PO Box 45290

Jacksonville, Florida 32231-5290

Overnight Mail

Merrill Lynch U.S.A. Government Reserves

c/o Financial Data Services, Inc.

4800 Deer Lake Drive

Jacksonville, Florida 32246-6484

Internal Wholesalers/Broker Dealer Support

Available to support investment professionals 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Eastern time), Monday-Friday. Call: (800) 882-0052

Portfolio Characteristics and Holdings

A description of the Fund’s policies and procedures related to disclosure of portfolio characteristics and holdings is available in the SAI.

For information about portfolio holdings and characteristics, BlackRock fund shareholders and prospective investors may call (800) 882-0052.

Securities and Exchange Commission

You may also view and copy public information about the Fund, including the SAI, by visiting the EDGAR database on the SEC website (http://www.sec.gov) or the SEC’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. Information about the operation of the Public Reference Room can be obtained by calling the SEC directly at (202) 551-8090. Copies of this information can be obtained, for a duplicating fee, by electronic request at the following E-mail address: publicinfo@sec.gov, or by writing to the Public Reference Room of the SEC, Washington, D.C. 20549.

You should rely only on the information contained in this Prospectus. No one is authorized to provide you with Information that is different from information contained in this prospectus.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has not approved or disapproved these securities or passed upon the adequacy of this Prospectus. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

INVESTMENT COMPANY ACT FILE #811-3534

^© BlackRock Advisors, LLC

Code #PRO-10152-1208

STATEMENT OF ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

MERRILL LYNCH U.S.A. GOVERNMENT RESERVES

100 Bellevue Parkway, Wilmington, Delaware 19809 • Phone No. (800) 221-7210

This Statement of Additional Information of Merrill Lynch U.S.A. Government Reserves (the “Fund”) is not a prospectus and should be read in conjunction with the Prospectus of the Fund, dated December 29, 2008, which has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) and can be obtained, without charge, by calling (800) 221-7210 or by writing to the Fund at the above address. The Fund’s Prospectus is incorporated by reference into this Statement of Additional Information, and Part I of this Statement of Additional Information and the portions of Part II of this Statement of Additional Information that relate to the Fund have been incorporated by reference into the Fund’s Prospectus. The portions of Part II of this Statement of Additional Information that do not relate to the Fund do not form a part of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, have not been incorporated by reference into the Fund’s Prospectus and should not be relied upon by investors in the Fund. The Fund’s audited financial statements are incorporated into this Statement of Additional Information by reference to the Fund’s 2008 Annual Report. You may request a copy of the Annual Report at no charge by calling (800) 221-7210 between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

BLACKROCK ADVISORS, LLC — MANAGER

BLACKROCK INVESTMENTS, INC. — DISTRIBUTOR

The date of this Statement of Additional Information is December 29, 2008



PART I

Investment Objectives and Policies		I-2

Investment Restrictions		I-3

Information on Trustees and Officers		I-4

Management and Advisory Arrangements		I-10

Distribution Related Expenses		I-11

Yield Information		I-11

Computation of Offering Price Per Share		I-12

Portfolio Transactions		I-12

Additional Information		I-12

Financial Statements		I-13

PART II

Investment Risks and Considerations		II-1

Management and Other Service Arrangements		II-11

Purchase of Shares		II-23

Redemption of Shares		II-32

Shareholder Services		II-37

Determination of Net Asset Value		II-39

Yield Information		II-40

Portfolio Transactions		II-41

Dividends and Taxes		II-42

Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures		II-48

General Information		II-48

Appendix A — Description of Debt Ratings		A-1

PART I: INFORMATION ABOUT MERRILL LYNCH U.S.A. GOVERNMENT RESERVES

Part I of this Statement of Additional Information sets forth information about Merrill Lynch U.S.A. Government Reserves (the “Fund”). It includes information about the Fund’s Board of Trustees, the advisory services provided to and the management fees paid by the Fund, performance data for the Fund, and information about other fees paid by and services provided to the Fund. This Part I should be read in conjunction with the Fund’s Prospectus and those portions of Part II of this Statement of Additional Information that pertain to the Fund.

Investment Objectives and Policies

The investment objective of the Fund is to seek preservation of capital, current income and liquidity available from investing in a diversified portfolio of short-term securities, including variable rate securities, that are direct U.S. Government obligations, and repurchase agreements pertaining to such securities with banks and securities dealers. The investment objective is a fundamental policy of the Fund that may not be changed without a vote of the majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund as defined in the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “Investment Company Act”). The Fund is classified as a diversified open-end investment company under the Investment Company Act.

Investment in the Fund offers several potential benefits. The Fund seeks to provide as high a yield potential as is available, consistent with the preservation of capital, from short term U.S. Government securities utilizing professional money market management, block purchases of securities and yield improvement techniques. It is expected to provide high liquidity because of its redemption features and seeks reduced risk resulting from diversification of assets. There can be no assurance that the investment objective of the Fund will be realized. Certain expenses are borne by investors, including advisory and management fees, administrative costs and operational costs.

Under normal circumstances, the Fund invests substantially all (at least 80%) of its net assets in direct U.S. Government obligations and related repurchase agreements. For this purpose, net assets include any borrowings for investment purposes. In managing the Fund, BlackRock Advisors, LLC (“BlackRock” or the “Manager”) and BlackRock Institutional Management Corporation (“BIMC”), the Fund’s sub-adviser, will employ a number of professional money management techniques, including varying the composition of investments and the average maturity of the portfolio based on their assessment of the relative values of the various securities and future interest rate patterns. These assessments will respond to changing economic and money market conditions and to shifts in fiscal and monetary policy. The Manager also will seek to improve yield by taking advantage of yield disparities that regularly occur in the money market. For example, market conditions frequently result in similar securities trading at different prices. Also, there frequently are differences in yields between the various types of money market securities. The Fund seeks to enhance yield by purchasing and selling securities based on these yield disparities.

Direct U.S. Government obligations consist of securities that are issued and/or guaranteed as to principal and interest by the United States, and are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. Marketable securities issued by the U.S. Government consist of U.S. Treasury bills, notes and bonds, which differ mainly in the length of their maturity. Treasury bills, the most frequently issued marketable U.S. Government security, have a maturity of up to six months and are issued on a discount basis. The Fund may also invest in U.S. Government agency securities that are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, including securities guaranteed by the Export-Import Bank of the United States and the Small Business Administration. The Fund may invest in variable rate direct U.S. Government obligations. Such obligations are securities on which the interest rate is adjusted periodically prior to their stated maturity at stated intervals (usually 30, 90 or 180 day intervals) based on a predetermined index or interest rate. The Fund may invest in direct obligations of the U.S. Government by purchasing component parts of U.S. Treasury bonds or other U.S. Government or U.S. Government agency securities through the acquisition of deposit receipts, which evidence ownership of direct interests in such component parts of U.S. Government securities. The Fund may not invest in securities issued or

I-2

guaranteed by U.S. Government agencies, instrumentalities or U.S. Government-sponsored enterprises that are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.

The Fund may invest in the U.S. Government securities described above pursuant to repurchase agreements. Repurchase agreements may be entered into only with a member bank of the Federal Reserve System or a primary dealer in U.S. Government securities or an affiliate thereof. Under such agreements, the seller agrees, on entering into the contract, to repurchase the securities at a mutually agreed-upon time and price, thereby determining the yield during the term of the agreement. This results in a fixed rate of return insulated from market fluctuations during such period.

The Fund may purchase or sell U.S. Government securities on a forward commitment basis at fixed purchase terms with periods of up to 180 days between the commitment and settlement dates. The purchase will be recorded on the date the Fund enters into the commitment and the value of the security thereafter will be reflected in the calculation of the Fund’s net asset value. The value of the security on the delivery date may be more or less than its purchase price. Although the Fund generally will enter into forward commitments with the intention of acquiring securities for its portfolio, the Fund may dispose of a commitment prior to settlement if the Manager deems it appropriate to do so. There can, of course, be no assurance that the judgments on which these techniques are based will be accurate or that such techniques when applied will be effective.

For purposes of its investment policies, the Fund defines short term securities as securities having maturities of not more than 397 days (13 months or less).

II.

Investment Restrictions

The Fund has adopted restrictions and policies relating to the investment of the Fund’s assets and its activities. Certain of the restrictions are fundamental policies of the Fund and may not be changed without the approval of the holders of a majority of the Fund’s outstanding voting securities (which for this purpose and under the Investment Company Act means the lesser of (i) 67% of the shares represented at a meeting at which more than 50% of the outstanding shares are represented or (ii) more than 50% of the outstanding shares). The Fund has also adopted certain non-fundamental investment restrictions, which may be changed by the Board of Trustees without shareholder approval.

Set forth below are the Fund’s fundamental and non-fundamental investment restrictions. Unless otherwise provided, all references below to the assets of the Fund are in terms of current market value.

Under its fundamental investment restrictions, the Fund may not:

(1) Issue senior securities to the extent such issuance would violate applicable law.

(2) Borrow money, except that (i) the Fund may borrow in amounts up to 33¹/3% of its total assets (including the amount borrowed), (ii) the Fund may borrow up to an additional 5% of its total assets for temporary purposes, (iii) the Fund may obtain such short-term credit as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of portfolio securities, and (iv) the Fund may purchase securities on margin to the extent permitted by applicable law. These restrictions on borrowing shall not apply to reverse repurchase agreements as described in the Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information. The Fund may not pledge its assets other than to secure such borrowings or to the extent permitted by the Fund’s investment policies as set forth in its Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, as they may be amended from time to time, in connection with hedging transactions, short sales, when-issued, reverse repurchase and forward commitment transactions and similar investment strategies.

(3) Underwrite securities of other issuers except insofar as the Fund may be deemed an underwriter under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) in selling portfolio securities.

(4) Invest more than 25% of its total assets, taken at market value, in the securities of issuers of any particular industry (excluding securities issued by the U.S. Government and its agencies and instrumentalities, and instruments issued by domestic banks).

I-3

(5) Purchase or sell real estate, except that, to the extent permitted by applicable law, the Fund may invest in securities directly or indirectly secured by real estate or interests therein or issued by companies which invest in real estate or interests therein.

(6) Purchase or sell commodities or contracts on commodities, except to the extent that the Fund may do so in accordance with applicable law and the Fund’s Prospectus and Statement of Additional Information, as they may be amended from time to time, and without registering as a commodity pool operator under the Commodity Exchange Act.

(7) Make loans to other persons, except (i) that the acquisition of bonds, debentures or other debt securities and investment in government obligations, commercial paper, pass-through instruments, certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, repurchase agreements or any similar instruments shall not be deemed to be the making of a loan, (ii) that the Fund may lend its portfolio securities, provided that the lending of portfolio securities may be made only in accordance with applicable law and guidelines adopted by the Board of Trustees, as they may be amended from time to time, and (iii) as may otherwise be permitted by an exemptive order issued to the Fund by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

(8) Make any investment inconsistent with the Fund’s classification as a diversified company under the Investment Company Act.

Under its non-fundamental investment restrictions, the Fund may not:

a. Purchase any securities on margin, except for the use of short-term credit as may be necessary for the clearance of purchases and sales of portfolio securities.

b. Make short sales of securities or maintain a short position.

c. Write, purchase or sell puts, calls or combinations thereof.

d. Subject to fundamental investment restriction (7) above, the Fund may from time to time lend securities from its portfolio to brokers, dealers and financial institutions and receive collateral in cash or securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government which will be maintained at all times in an amount equal to at least 100% of the current market value of the loaned securities. Such cash collateral will be invested in short-term securities, the income from which will increase the return to the Fund. Such loans will be terminable at any time. The Fund will have the right to regain record ownership of loaned securities to exercise beneficial rights. The Fund may pay reasonable fees in connection with the arranging of such loans.

Except with respect to restriction (2), if a percentage restriction on the investment or use of assets set forth above is adhered to at the time a transaction is effected, later changes in percentages resulting from changing values will not be considered a violation.

III.

Information on Trustees and Officers

The Board of Trustees (the “Board”) of the Fund consists of thirteen individuals, eleven of whom are not “interested persons” of the Fund as defined in the Investment Company Act (the “non-interested Trustees”). The Trustees are responsible for the oversight of the operations of the Fund and perform the various duties imposed on the directors of investment companies by the Investment Company Act. The non-interested Trustees have retained independent legal counsel to assist them in connection with their duties.

The Board has four standing committees: an Audit Committee, a Governance and Nominating Committee, a Compliance Committee and a Performance Oversight Committee.

The members of the Audit Committee (the “Audit Committee”) are Kenneth L. Urish (Chair), Herbert I. London and Frederick W. Winter, all of whom are non-interested Trustees. The principal responsibilities of the Audit Committee are to approve the selection, retention, termination and compensation of the Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm (the “independent auditors”) and to oversee the independent auditors’ work. The Audit Committee’s responsibilities include, without limitation, to

I-4

(1) evaluate the qualifications and independence of the independent auditors; (2) approve all audit engagement terms and fees for the Fund; (3) review the conduct and results of each independent audit of the Fund’s financial statements; (4) review with the independent auditors any audit problems or difficulties encountered during or related to the conduct of the audit; (5) review the internal controls of the Fund and its service providers with respect to accounting and financial matters; (6) oversee the performance of the Fund’s internal audit function provided by its investment adviser, administrator, pricing agent or other service provider; (7) oversee policies, procedures and controls regarding valuation of the Fund’s investments; and (8) resolve any disagreements between Fund management and the independent auditors regarding financial reporting. The Board has adopted a written charter for the Audit Committee. During the fiscal year ended August 31, 2008, the Audit Committee met three times.

The members of the Governance and Nominating Committee (the “Governance Committee”) are Matina Horner (Chair), Cynthia A. Montgomery and Robert C. Robb, all of whom are non-interested Trustees. The principal responsibilities of the Governance Committee are to (1) identify individuals qualified to serve as non-interested Trustees of the Fund and recommend non-interested Trustee nominees for election by shareholders or appointment by the Board; (2) advise the Board with respect to Board composition, procedures and committees (other than the Audit Committee); (3) oversee periodic self-assessments of the Board and committees of the Board (other than the Audit Committee); (4) review and make recommendations regarding non-interested Trustee compensation; and (5) monitor corporate governance matters and develop appropriate recommendations to the Board. The Governance Committee may consider nominations for the office of Trustee made by Fund shareholders as it deems appropriate. Fund shareholders who wish to recommend a nominee should send nominations to the Secretary of the Fund that include biographical information and set forth the qualifications of the proposed nominee. The Board has adopted a written charter for the Governance Committee. During the fiscal year ended August 31, 2008, the Governance Committee met three times.

The members of the Compliance Committee are Joseph Platt (Chair), Cynthia A. Montgomery and Robert C. Robb, all of whom are non-interested Trustees. The Compliance Committee’s purpose is to assist the Board in fulfilling its responsibility to oversee regulatory and fiduciary compliance matters involving the Fund, the fund-related activities of BlackRock and the Fund’s third party service providers. The Compliance Committee’s responsibilities include, without limitation, to (1) oversee the compliance policies and procedures of the Fund and its service providers; (2) review information on and, where appropriate, recommend policies concerning the Fund’s compliance with applicable law; and (3) review reports from and make certain recommendations regarding the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer. The Board has adopted a written charter for the Compliance Committee. During the fiscal year ended August 31, 2008, the Compliance Committee met four times.

The members of the Performance Oversight Committee (the “Performance Committee”) are David O. Beim (Chair), Toby Rosenblatt (Vice Chair), Ronald W. Forbes and Rodney D. Johnson, all of whom are non-interested Trustees, and Richard S. Davis, who is an interested Trustee. The Performance Committee’s purpose is to assist the Board in fulfilling its responsibility to oversee the Fund’s investment performance relative to its agreed-upon performance objectives. The Performance Committee’s responsibilities include, without limitation, to (1) review the Fund’s investment objectives, policies and practices, (2) recommend to the Board specific investment tools and techniques employed by BlackRock, (3) recommend to the Board appropriate investment performance objectives based on its review of appropriate benchmarks and competitive universes, (4) review the Fund’s investment performance relative to agreed-upon performance objectives and (5) review information on unusual or exceptional investment matters. The Board has adopted a written charter for the Performance Committee. During the fiscal year ended August 31, 2008, the Performance Committee met three times.

Prior to November 1, 2007, the Board then in office had two standing committees, an Audit Committee and a Nominating Committee, each of which consisted of all of the non-interested Trustees then in office. For the period from September 1, 2007 to November 1, 2007, the Audit Committee and the Nominating Committee did not meet.

I-5

Biographical Information

Certain biographical and other information relating to the Trustees is set forth below, including their year of birth, their principal occupations for at least the last five years, the length of time served, the total number of investment companies and portfolios overseen in the complex of funds advised by the Manager or its affiliates (“BlackRock-advised funds”) and any public directorships.


Name, Address and Year of Birth	Position(s) Held with the Fund	Length of Time Served²	Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years	Number of BlackRock- Advised Funds and Portfolios Overseen	Public Directorships
Non-Interested Trustees¹:

David O. Beim³ 40 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 1940	Trustee	2007 to present	Professor of Finance and Economics at the Columbia University Graduate School of Business since 1991; Trustee, Phillips Exeter Academy since 2002; formerly Chairman, Wave Hill Inc. (public garden and cultural center) from 1990 to 2006.	34 Funds 81 Portfolios	None

Ronald W. Forbes⁴ 40 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 1940	Trustee	2007 to present	Professor Emeritus of Finance, School of Business, State University of New York at Albany since 2000.	34 Funds 81 Portfolios	None

Dr. Matina Horner⁵ 40 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 1939	Trustee	2007 to present	Formerly Executive Vice President, Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association and College Retirement Equities Fund from 1989 to 2003.	34 Funds 81 Portfolios	NSTAR (electric and gas utility)

Rodney D. Johnson⁴ 40 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 1941	Trustee	2007 to present	President, Fairmount Capital Advisors, Inc. since 1987; Director, Fox Chase Cancer Center since 2002; Member of the Archdiocesan Investment Committee of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia since 2003; Director, The Committee of Seventy (civic) since 2006.	34 Funds 81 Portfolios	None

Herbert I. London 40 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 1939	Trustee	2007 to present	Professor Emeritus, New York University since 2005; John M. Olin Professor of Humanities, New York University from 1993 to 2005 and Professor thereof from 1980 to 2005; President, Hudson Institute (policy research organization) since 1997 and Trustee thereof since 1980; Chairman of the Board of Trustees for Grantham University since 2006; Director, InnoCentive, Inc. (strategic solutions company) since 2005; Director of Cerego, LLC (software development and design) since 2005.	34 Funds 81 Portfolios	AIMS Worldwide, Inc. (marketing)

Cynthia A. Montgomery 40 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 1952	Trustee	2007 to present	Professor, Harvard Business School since 1989; Director, Harvard Business School Publishing since 2005; Director, McLean Hospital since 2005.	34 Funds 81 Portfolios	Newell Rubbermaid, Inc. (manufacturing)

Joseph P. Platt, Jr.⁶ 40 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 1947	Trustee	2007 to present	Director, The West Penn Allegheny Health System (a not-for-profit health system) since 2008; Partner, Amarna Corporation, LLC (private investment company) since 2002; Director, WQED Multimedia (PBS and Multimedia, a not-for-profit company) since 2002; Director, Jones and Brown (Canadian insurance broker) since 1998; General Partner, Thorn Partner, LP (private investment) since 1998.	34 Funds 81 Portfolios	Greenlight Capital Re Ltd. (reinsurance)

Robert C. Robb, Jr. 40 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 1945	Trustee	2007 to present	Partner, Lewis, Eckert, Robb and Company (management and financial consulting firm) since 1981.	34 Funds 81 Portfolios	None

(footnotes appear on page I-7)

I-6


Name, Address and Year of Birth	Position(s) Held with the Fund	Length of Time Served²	Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years	Number of BlackRock- Advised Funds and Portfolios Overseen	Public Directorships
Non-Interested Trustees¹:

Toby Rosenblatt⁷ 40 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 1938	Trustee	2007 to present	President, Founders Investments Ltd. (private investments) since 1999; Director of Forward Management, LLC since 2007; Director, The James Irvine Foundation (philanthropic foundation) since 1997; Formerly Trustee, State Street Research Mutual Funds from 1990 to 2005; Formerly Trustee, Metropolitan Series Funds, Inc. from 2001 to 2005.	34 Funds 81 Portfolios	A.P. Pharma, Inc. (specialty pharmaceuticals)

Kenneth L. Urish⁸ 40 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 1951	Trustee	2007 to present	Managing Partner, Urish Popeck & Co., LLC (certified public accountants and consultants) since 1976; Member of External Advisory Board, The Pennsylvania State University Accounting Department since 2001; Trustee, The Holy Family Foundation since 2001; Committee Member, Professional Ethics Committee of the Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants since 2007; President and Trustee, Pittsburgh Catholic Publishing Associates since 2003; Formerly Director, Inter-Tel from 2006 to 2007.	34 Funds 81 Portfolios	None

Frederick W. Winter 40 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 1945	Trustee	2007 to present	Professor and Dean Emeritus of the Joseph M. Katz School of Business, University of Pittsburgh since 2005 and Dean thereof from 1997 to 2005; Director, Alkon Corporation (pneumatics) since 1992; Director, Indotronix International (IT services) since 2004; Director, Tippman Sports (recreation) since 2005.	34 Funds 81 Portfolios	None

Interested Trustees^1,9:

Richard S. Davis 40 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 1945	Trustee	2007 to present	Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. since 2005; Formerly Chief Executive Officer, State Street Research & Management Company from 2000 to 2005; Formerly Chairman of the Board of Trustees, State Street Research Mutual Funds from 2000 to 2005; Formerly Chairman, SSR Realty from 2000 to 2004	180 Funds 292 Portfolios	None

Henry Gabbay 40 East 52^nd Street New York, NY 10022 1947	Trustee	2007 to present	Consultant, BlackRock, Inc. since 2007; Formerly Managing Director, BlackRock, Inc. from 1989 to 2007; Formerly Chief Administrative Officer, BlackRock Advisors, LLC from 1998 to 2007; Formerly President of BlackRock Funds and BlackRock Bond Allocation Target Shares from 2005 to 2007 and Treasurer of certain closed-end funds in the BlackRock fund complex from 1989 to 2006.	180 Funds 292 Portfolios	None

Trustees serve until their resignation, removal or death, or until December 31 of the year in which they turn 72.

Following the combination of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, L.P. (“MLIM”) and BlackRock, Inc. in September 2006, the various legacy MLIM and legacy BlackRock fund boards were realigned and consolidated into three new fund boards in 2007. As a result, although the chart shows certain Trustees as joining the Fund’s Board in 2007, each Trustee first became a member of the board of other legacy MLIM or legacy BlackRock funds as follows: David O. Beim, 1998; Ronald W. Forbes, 1977; Dr. Matina Horner, 2004; Rodney D. Johnson, 1995; Herbert I. London, 1987; Cynthia A. Montgomery, 1994; Joseph P. Platt, Jr., 1999; Robert C. Robb, Jr., 1999; Toby Rosenblatt, 2005; Kenneth L. Urish, 1999 and Frederick W. Winter, 1999.

Chair of the Performance Committee.

⁴

Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees.

⁵

Chair of the Governance Committee.

⁶

Chair of the Compliance Committee.

⁷

Vice Chair of the Performance Committee.

⁸

Chair of the Audit Committee.

⁹

Mr. Davis is an “interested person,” as defined in the Investment Company Act, of the Fund based on his positions with BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates. Mr. Gabbay is an “interested person” of the Fund due to his consulting arrangement with BlackRock, Inc. as well as his ownership of BlackRock, Inc. and PNC securities.

I-7

Certain biographical and other information relating to the officers of the Fund is set forth below, including their year of birth, their principal occupations for at least the last five years, the length of time served, the total number of BlackRock-advised funds and portfolios overseen and any public directorships:


Name, Address and Year of Birth	Position(s) Held with the Fund	Length of Time Served¹	Principal Occupation(s) During Past Five Years	Number of BlackRock- Advised Funds and Portfolios Overseen	Public Directorships

Donald C. Burke 40 East 52nd Street New York, NY 10022 1960	President and Chief Executive Officer	2007 to present	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2006; Formerly Managing Director of Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, L.P. (“MLIM”) and Fund Asset Management, L.P. (“FAM”) in 2006; First Vice President thereof from 1997 to 2005; Treasurer thereof from 1999 to 2006 and Vice President thereof from 1990 to 1997.	190 Funds 302 Portfolios	None

Anne F. Ackerley 40 East 52nd Street New York, NY 10022 1962	Vice President	2007 to present	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2000; Chief Operating Officer of BlackRock’s U.S. Retail Group since 2006; Head of BlackRock’s Mutual Fund Group from 2000 to 2006. Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. from 1984 to 1986 and from 1988 to 2000, most recently as First Vice President and Operating Officer of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group.	180 Funds 292 Portfolios	None

Neal J. Andrews 40 East 52nd Street New York, NY 10022 1966	Chief Financial Officer	2007 to present	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2006; Formerly Senior Vice President and Line of Business Head of Fund Accounting and Administration at PNC Global Investment Servicing (U.S.) Inc. (formerly PFPC Inc.) from 1992 to 2006.	180 Funds 292 Portfolios	None

Jay M. Fife 40 East 52nd Street New York, NY 10022 1970	Treasurer	2007 to present	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2007; Director of BlackRock, Inc. since 2006; Assistant Treasurer of certain funds advised by MLIM or its affiliates from 2005 to 2006; Director of MLIM Fund Services Group from 2001 to 2006.	180 Funds 292 Portfolios	None

Brian P. Kindelan 40 East 52nd Street New York, NY 10022 1959	Chief Compliance Officer	2007 to present	Chief Compliance Officer of the BlackRock-advised funds since 2007; Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer of the BlackRock-advised funds since 2007; Managing Director and Senior Counsel of BlackRock, Inc. since 2005; Director and Senior Counsel of BlackRock Advisors, Inc. from 2001 to 2004 and Vice President and Senior Counsel thereof from 1998 to 2000; Formerly Senior Counsel of The PNC Bank Corp. from 1995 to 1998.	180 Funds 292 Portfolios	None

Howard B. Surloff 40 East 52nd Street New York, NY 10022 1965	Secretary	2007 to present	Managing Director of BlackRock, Inc. and General Counsel of U.S. Funds at BlackRock, Inc. since 2006; Formerly General Counsel (U.S.) of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P. from 1993 to 2006.	180 Funds 292 Portfolios	None

Officers of the Fund serve at the pleasure of the Board of Trustees of the Fund.

Share Ownership

Information relating to each Trustee’s share ownership in the Fund and in all BlackRock-advised funds that are overseen by the respective Trustee (“Supervised Funds”) as of December 31, 2007 is set forth in the chart below:


Name of Trustee	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in Supervised Funds

Interested Trustees:

Richard S. Davis	None	Over $100,000

Henry Gabbay	None	Over $100,000

I-8


Name of Trustee¹	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in the Fund	Aggregate Dollar Range of Equity Securities in Supervised Funds
Non-Interested Trustees:
David O. Beim	None	$50,001- $100,000
Ronald W. Forbes	None	Over $100,000
Dr. Matina Horner	None	Over $100,000
Rodney D. Johnson	None	Over $100,000
Herbert I. London	None	Over $100,000
Cynthia A. Montgomery	None	Over $100,000
Joseph P. Platt, Jr.	None	Over $100,000
Robert C. Robb, Jr.	None	Over $100,000
Toby Rosenblatt	None	Over $100,000
Kenneth L. Urish	None	None
Frederick W. Winter	None	None

Each of the Trustees assumed office on November 1, 2007. The Trustees anticipate purchasing additional shares of BlackRock-Advised Funds they currently oversee in the near future.

As of November 28, 2008, the Trustees and officers of the Fund as a group owned an aggregate of less than 1% of the outstanding shares of the Fund. As of December 31, 2007, none of the non-interested Trustees of the Fund or their immediate family members owned beneficially or of record any securities of affiliates of the Manager, the Distributor, or any person directly or indirectly controlling, controlled by, or under common control with the Manager or Distributor.

Compensation of Trustees

Each Trustee who is a non-interested Trustee is paid as compensation an annual retainer of $150,000 per year for his or her services as Director/Trustee to the BlackRock-advised funds, including the Fund, and a $25,000 Board meeting fee to be paid for each in-person Board meeting attended, up to five Board meetings held in a calendar year (compensation for meetings in excess of this number to be determined on a case-by-case basis), together with out-of-pocket expenses in accordance with a Board policy on travel and other business expenses relating to attendance at meetings. In addition, the Co-Chairs of the Board of Trustees are each paid as compensation an additional annual retainer of $45,000. The Chairs of the Audit Committee, Compliance Committee, Governance Committee and Performance Committee are paid as compensation an additional annual retainer of $25,000. The Vice-Chair of the Performance Committee is paid an additional annual retainer of $25,000. The Fund compensates the Chief Compliance Officer for his services as its Chief Compliance Officer. The Fund may also pay a portion of the compensation of certain members of the staff of the Chief Compliance Officer.

The following table sets forth the compensation earned by the non-interested Trustees from the Fund for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2008, and the aggregate compensation paid to them by all BlackRock-advised funds for the calendar year ended December 31, 2007.


Name	Compensation from the Fund⁸	Pension or Retirement Benefits Accrued as Part of Fund Expenses	Aggregate Compensation from the Fund and Other BlackRock-Advised Funds¹
David O. Beim²	$1,342	None	$180,570
Ronald W. Forbes³	$1,355	None	$235,183
Dr. Matina Horner⁴	$1,156	None	$226,015
Rodney D. Johnson³	$1,355	None	$143,151
Herbert I. London	$1,325	None	$250,136
Cynthia A. Montgomery	$1,325	None	$171,433
Joseph P. Platt, Jr.⁵	$1,342	None	$139,817
Robert C. Robb, Jr.	$1,325	None	$128,151
Toby Rosenblatt⁶	$1,342	None	$226,015
Kenneth L. Urish⁷	$1,342	None	$139,817
Frederick W. Winter	$1,325	None	$128,151

For the number of BlackRock advised funds from which each non-interested Trustee receives compensation, see the Biographical Information chart beginning on page I-6.

(footnotes continue on next page)

I-9

Chair of the Performance Committee.

Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees.

⁴

Chair of the Governance Committee.

⁵

Chair of the Compliance Committee.

⁶

Vice-Chair of the Performance Committee.

⁷

Chair of the Audit Committee.

⁸

For the fiscal year ended August 31, 2008, the Fund paid aggregate compensation of $17,795 to all non-interested Trustees then holding such office.

Mr. Kindelan assumed office as Chief Compliance Officer and Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Officer of the Fund on November 1, 2007. From November 1, 2007 through August 31, 2008, Mr. Kindelan received $43 in compensation from the Fund.

IV.

Management and Advisory Arrangements

The Fund has entered into an investment management agreement with the Manager (the “Management Agreement”) pursuant to which the Manager receives for its services to the Fund a monthly fee at the annual rate of 0.45% of the average daily net assets of the Fund. Prior to September 29, 2006, Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, L.P. (“MLIM”), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (“Merrill Lynch”), acted as the Fund’s manager and was compensated according to the same management fee rate as the Manager discussed above.

The table below sets forth information about the total management fees paid by the Fund to the Manager and to MLIM, the Fund’s previous manager, for the periods indicated:


Fiscal Year Ended August 31,	Paid to MLIM	Paid to the Manager

2008	N/A	$616,995

2007	$54,667¹	$543,129²

2006	$559,303	NA

For the period September 1, 2006 to September 29, 2006.

For the period September 29, 2006 to August 31, 2007.

Pursuant to the Management Agreement, the Manager may from time to time, in its sole discretion to the extent permitted by applicable law, appoint one or more sub-advisers, including, without limitation, affiliates of BlackRock, Inc. (“Affiliates”), to perform management services with respect to the Fund. In addition, the Manager may delegate certain of its management functions under the Management Agreement to one or more of its Affiliates to the extent permitted by applicable law. The Manager may terminate any or all sub-advisers or such delegation arrangements in its sole discretion at any time to the extent permitted by applicable law.

The Manager has entered into a sub-advisory agreement (the “Sub-Advisory Agreement”) with BlackRock Institutional Management Corporation (the “Sub-Adviser”), pursuant to which the Sub-Adviser receives for the services it provides to the Manager with respect to the Fund a monthly fee at an annual rate equal to a percentage of the management fee paid to the Manager under the Management Agreement. The Sub-Adviser is responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fund’s portfolio.

The table below sets forth information about the sub-advisory fees paid by the Manager to the Sub-Adviser with respect to the Fund:


Fiscal Year Ended August 31,		Paid to the Sub-Adviser

2008		$459,382

2007¹		$400,523

For the period September 29, 2006 to August 31, 2007.

I-10

Transfer Agency Services

The following table sets forth the transfer agency fees paid by the Fund to Financial Data Services, Inc. (the “Transfer Agent”) for the periods indicated:


Fiscal Year Ended August 31,		Amount Paid

2008		$166,948

2007		$219,671

2006		$212,864

Accounting Services

The table below shows the amounts paid by the Fund to State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”), the Manager and MLIM, the Fund’s previous manager, for accounting services for the periods indicated:


Fiscal Year Ended August 31,	Paid to State Street	Paid to MLIM	Paid to the Manager

2008	$56,860	N/A	$2,423

2007	$47,885	$337¹	$2,321²

2006	$45,203	$2,669	N/A

For the period September 1, 2006 to September 29, 2006.

For the period September 29, 2006 to August 31, 2007.

Distribution Related Expenses

Prior to October 1, 2008, FAM Distributors, Inc. and BlackRock Distributors, Inc., each an affiliate of the Manager, acted as the Fund’s co-distributors (collectively, the “Previous Distributors”). Effective October 1, 2008, BlackRock Investments, Inc. (“BII” or the “Distributor”) acts as the sole Distributor for the Fund.

The Fund has adopted a Shareholder Servicing Plan (the “Plan”) in compliance with Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act pursuant to which the Fund is authorized to pay the Distributor a fee at the annual rate of 0.125% of the average daily net asset value of Fund accounts.

The Trustees believe that the Fund’s expenditures under the Plan benefit the Fund and its shareholders by providing better shareholder services and by affecting positively the sale and distribution of Fund shares. For the fiscal year ended August 31, 2008, $160,907 was paid to the Previous Distributors pursuant to the Plan. At least 50% of the fees collected by the Previous Distributors were paid to Affiliates for providing shareholder servicing and distribution related activities and services.

VI.

Yield Information

The yield on the Fund’s shares normally will fluctuate on a daily basis. Therefore, the yield for any given past period is not an indication or representation by the Fund of future yields or rates of return on its shares. The yield is affected by such factors as changes in interest rates on the Fund’s portfolio securities, average portfolio maturity, the types and quality of portfolio securities held and operating expenses. The yield on Fund shares for various reasons may not be comparable to the yield on bank deposits, shares of other money market funds or other investments.


		Seven-Day Period Ended August 31, 2008

(Excluding gains and losses)		1.23%

I-11

VII.

Computation of Offering Price Per Share

An illustration of the computation of the offering price for the outstanding shares of the Fund based on the value of the Fund’s net assets and number of shares outstanding on August 31, 2008 is set forth below:


		As of August 31, 2008

Net Assets		$128,988,774


Number of Shares Outstanding		128,988,711


Net Asset Value Per Share (net assets

divided by number of shares outstanding)		$1.00


Offering Price		$1.00

VIII.

Portfolio Transactions

See Part II “Portfolio Transactions” in this Statement of Additional Information for more information.

The Commission has issued an exemptive order permitting the Fund to conduct principal transactions with Merrill Lynch, Merrill Lynch Money Markets, Inc. (“MMI”) and Merrill Lynch Government Securities, Inc. (“GSI”) in U.S. Government securities and U.S. Government agency securities.

The number and dollar value of transactions engaged in by the Fund pursuant to this exemptive order are set forth in the following table:


Fiscal Year Ended August 31,	Number	Dollar Volume

2008	9	$59,000,000

2007	11	$166,000,000

2006	11	$69,382,930

The Fund held no securities of its regular brokers or dealers (as defined in Rule 10b-1 of the Investment Company Act) as of the close of the fiscal year ended August 31, 2008.

IX.

Additional Information

Description of Shares

The Fund was organized on November 17, 1987 under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Fund is a successor to a Massachusetts business trust of the same name organized on July 24, 1982. It is a diversified, open-end investment company. The Declaration of Trust permits the Trustees to issue an unlimited number of full and fractional shares of beneficial interest, par value $0.10 per share, of a single class and to divide or combine the shares into a greater or lesser number of shares without thereby changing the proportionate beneficial interests in the Fund. Each share represents an equal proportionate interest in the Fund with each other share. Upon liquidation of the Fund, shareholders are entitled to share pro rata in the net assets of the Fund available for distribution to shareholders.

I-12

Principal Shareholders

To the knowledge of the Fund, the following entities owned beneficially or of record 5% or more of the Fund’s shares as of November 28, 2008:


Name	Address	Percentage and Class

MERRILL LYNCH PIERCE FENNER & SMITH¹	4800 East Deerlake Drive, 3rd Floor, Jacksonville, Florida 32246-6484	100%

Record holders do not beneficially hold the shares.

Financial Statements

The Fund’s audited financial statements, including the report of the independent registered public accounting firm, are incorporated in the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information by reference to its 2008 Annual Report. You may request a copy of the Annual Report at no charge by calling (800) 221-7210 between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Eastern time, Monday through Friday.

I-13

PART II

Part II of this statement of additional information contains information about the following funds: CMA^® Arizona Municipal Money Fund (“CMA Arizona”), CMA^® California Municipal Money Fund (“CMA California”), CMA Connecticut Municipal Money Fund (“CMA Connecticut”), CMA^® Florida Municipal Money Fund (“CMA Florida”), CMA^® Massachusetts Municipal Money Fund (“CMA Massachusetts”), CMA^® Michigan Municipal Money Fund (“CMA Michigan”), CMA^® New Jersey Municipal Money Fund (“CMA New Jersey”), CMA^® New York Municipal Money Fund (“CMA New York”), CMA^® North Carolina Municipal Money Fund (“CMA North Carolina”), CMA^® Ohio Municipal Money Fund (“CMA Ohio”), and CMA^® Pennsylvania Municipal Money Fund (“CMA Pennsylvania”), each a series of the CMA^® Multi-State Municipal Series Trust (collectively, the “CMA State Funds”); CMA^® Government Securities Fund (“CMA Government Securities”); CMA^® Money Fund (“CMA Money”); CMA^® Tax-Exempt Fund (“CMA Tax-Exempt”); CMA^® Treasury Fund (“CMA Treasury”); WCMA^® Government Securities Fund (“WCMA Government Securities”); WCMA^® Money Fund (“WCMA Money”); WCMA^® Tax-Exempt Fund (“WCMA Tax-Exempt”); WCMA^® Treasury Fund (“WCMA Treasury”); Merrill Lynch Ready Assets Trust (“Ready Assets Trust”); Merrill Lynch Retirement Reserves Money Fund of Merrill Lynch Retirement Series Trust (“Retirement Reserves”); Merrill Lynch U.S.A. Government Reserves (“U.S.A. Government Reserves”); and Merrill Lynch U.S. Treasury Money Fund (“U.S. Treasury Money”).

Throughout this Statement of Additional Information, each of the above listed funds may be referred to as a “Fund” or collectively as the “Funds.” The CMA State Funds, CMA Money, CMA Government Securities, CMA Tax-Exempt and CMA Treasury may be collectively referred to herein as the “CMA Funds.” The CMA State Funds and CMA Tax-Exempt may be collectively referred to herein as the “CMA Tax-Exempt Funds.” WCMA Government Securities, WCMA Money, WCMA Tax-Exempt and WCMA Treasury may be collectively referred to herein as the “WCMA Funds.”

Each Fund is organized as a Massachusetts business trust. For ease and clarity of presentation, common shares of beneficial interest are referred to herein as “shares” and the trustees of each Fund are referred to herein as “Trustees.” BlackRock Advisors, LLC is the manager of each Fund and is referred to as “BlackRock” or the “Manager,” and the management agreement applicable to each Fund is referred to as the “Management Agreement.” The Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, is referred to herein as the “Investment Company Act.” The Securities Act of 1933, as amended, is referred to herein as the “Securities Act”. The Securities and Exchange Commission is referred to herein as the “Commission.”

CMA Money, CMA Government Securities, CMA Tax-Exempt and CMA Treasury as well as all of the WCMA Funds are “feeder” funds (each, a “Feeder Fund”) that invest all of their assets in a corresponding “master” portfolio (each, a “Master Portfolio”) of a master limited liability company organized in Delaware (each, a “Master LLC”), a fund that has the same objective and strategies as the applicable Feeder Fund. All investments will be made at the level of the Master LLC. This structure is sometimes called a “master/feeder” structure. A Feeder Fund’s investment results will correspond directly to the investment results of the underlying Master LLC in which it invests. For simplicity, unless the context otherwise requires, this Statement of Additional Information uses the terms “Fund” or “Feeder Fund” to include both a Feeder Fund and its Master LLC.

INVESTMENT RISKS AND CONSIDERATIONS

Set forth below are descriptions of some of the types of investments and investment strategies that one or more of the Funds may use, and the risks and considerations associated with those investments and investment strategies. Please see each Fund’s Prospectus and the “Investment Objectives and Policies” section of this Statement of Additional Information for further information about each Fund’s investment policies and risks. Information contained in this section about the risks and considerations associated with a Fund’s investments and/or investment strategies applies only to those Funds specifically identified as making each type of investment or using each investment strategy (each, a “Covered Fund”). Information that does not apply to a Covered Fund does not form a part of that Covered Fund’s Statement of Additional Information and should not be relied upon by investors in that Covered Fund. Only information that is clearly identified as applicable to a Covered Fund is considered to form a part of that Covered Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

II-1

CMA
Arizona

CMA
California

CMA
Connecticut

CMA
Florida

CMA
Massachusetts

CMA
Michigan

CMA
New
Jersey

CMA
New
York

CMA
North
Carolina

CMA
Ohio

CMA
Pennsylvania

CMA
Government
Securities

Rule 2a-7 Requirements

Bank Money Instruments

Commercial Paper and Other Short Term Obligations

Foreign Bank Money Instruments

Foreign Short Term Debt Instruments

Forward Commitments

Municipal Investments

Municipal Securities

Municipal Securities – Derivative Products

Municipal Notes

Municipal Commercial Paper

Municipal Lease Obligations

Municipal Securities – Short Term Maturity Standards

Municipal Securities—Quality Standards

Municipal Securities—Other Factors

Single State Risk

Variable Rate Demand Obligations (“VRDOs”) and Participating VRDOs

Purchase of Securities with Fixed Price “Puts”

Taxable Money Market Securities

Repurchase Agreements

Repurchase Agreements and Purchase and Sale Contracts

Reverse Repurchase Agreements

Securities Lending

When-Issued Securities and Delayed Delivery Securities and Forward Commitments

CMA
Money

CMA
Tax-Exempt

CMA
Treasury

WCMA
Government
Securities

WCMA
Money

WCMA
Tax-Exempt

WCMA
Treasury

Ready
Assets
Trust

Retirement
Reserves
Money
Fund

U.S.A.
Government
Reserves

U.S.
Treasury
Money
Fund

Rule 2a-7 Requirements

Bank Money Instruments

Commercial Paper and Other Short Term Obligations

Foreign Bank Money Instruments

Foreign Short Term Debt Instruments

Forward Commitments

Municipal Investments

Municipal Securities

Municipal Securities – Derivative Products

Municipal Notes

Municipal Commercial Paper

Municipal Lease Obligations

Municipal Securities – Short Term Maturity Standards

Municipal Securities—Quality Standards

Municipal Securities—Other Factors

Single State Risk

Variable Rate Demand Obligations (“VRDOs”) and Participating VRDOs

Purchase of Securities with Fixed Price “Puts”

Taxable Money Market Securities

Repurchase Agreements

Repurchase Agreements and Purchase and Sale Contracts

Reverse Repurchase Agreements

Securities Lending

When-Issued Securities and Delayed Delivery Securities and Forward Commitments

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Rule 2a-7 Requirements. Rule 2a-7 under the Investment Company Act sets forth portfolio diversification requirements applicable to all money market funds. Rule 2a-7 currently requires that each Fund (other than the CMA State Funds) limit its investments in securities issued by any one issuer ordinarily to not more than 5% of its total assets, or, in the event that such securities are not First Tier Securities (as defined in the Rule), not more than 1% of its total assets (in the case of each of CMA Tax-Exempt and WCMA Tax-Exempt only, this 1% limit applies only to Conduit Securities—as defined in the Rule—that are not First Tier Securities). In addition, Rule 2a-7 requires that not more than 5% of each such Fund’s (other than CMA Tax-Exempt and WCMA Tax-Exempt) total assets be invested in Second Tier Securities (as defined in the Rule) or, in the case of CMA Tax-Exempt and WCMA Tax-Exempt, Second Tier Conduit Securities (as defined in the Rule). Rule 2a-7 requires each CMA State Fund with respect to 75% of its total assets to limit its investments in securities issued by any one issuer ordinarily to not more than 5% of its total assets, or, in the event that such securities are Conduit Securities that are not First Tier Securities, not more than 1% of its total assets. With respect to 25% of its total assets, each CMA State Fund may invest more than 5% of its total assets in securities issued by a single issuer provided those securities are First Tier Securities. In addition, Rule 2a-7 requires that not more than 5% of each CMA State Fund’s total assets be invested in Second Tier Conduit Securities. The Rule requires each Fund to be diversified (as defined in the Rule) other than with respect to Government Securities and securities subject to a Guarantee Issued by a Non-Controlled Person (as defined in the Rule), although the Rule contains separate diversification requirements for guarantees and demand features.

Bank Money Instruments. Certain Funds may invest in U.S. dollar-denominated obligations of U.S. and foreign depository institutions, including commercial and savings banks, savings and loan associations, and other institutions. Such obligations include but are not limited to certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, time deposits, bank notes and deposit notes. For example, the obligations may be issued by (i) U.S. or foreign depository institutions, (ii) foreign branches or subsidiaries of U.S. depository institutions (“Eurodollar” obligations), (iii) U.S. branches or subsidiaries of foreign depository institutions (“Yankeedollar” obligations) or (iv) foreign branches or subsidiaries of foreign depository institutions. Eurodollar and Yankeedollar obligations and obligations of branches or subsidiaries of foreign depository institutions may be general obligations of the parent bank or may be limited to the issuing branch or subsidiary by the terms of the specific obligations or by government regulation. Investments in obligations of foreign depository institutions and their foreign branches and subsidiaries will only be made if determined to be of comparable quality to other investments permissible for each Fund. CMA Money, WCMA Money and Retirement Reserves may invest only in Eurodollar obligations that, by their terms, are general obligations of the U.S. parent bank. CMA Money and WCMA Money may only invest in Yankeedollar obligations issued by U.S. branches or subsidiaries of foreign banks that are subject to state or Federal banking regulations in the U.S. and that by their terms are general obligations of the foreign parent. No Fund will invest more than 25% of its total assets (taken at market value at the time of each investment) in obligations of foreign depository institutions and their foreign branches and subsidiaries or in obligations of foreign branches or subsidiaries of U.S. depository institutions that are not backed by the U.S. parent. The Funds treat bank money instruments issued by U.S. branches or subsidiaries of foreign banks as obligations issued by domestic banks (not subject to the 25% limitation) if the branch or subsidiary is subject to the same bank regulation as U.S. banks.

Eurodollar and Yankeedollar obligations, as well as other obligations of foreign depository institutions and short term obligations issued by other foreign entities, may involve additional investment risks, including adverse political and economic developments, the possible imposition of withholding taxes on interest income payable on such obligations, the possible seizure or nationalization of foreign deposits and the possible establishment of exchange controls or other foreign governmental laws or restrictions that might adversely affect the repayment of principal and the payment of interest. The issuers of such obligations may not be subject to U.S. regulatory requirements. Foreign branches or subsidiaries of U.S. banks may be subject to less stringent reserve requirements than U.S. banks. U.S. branches or subsidiaries of foreign banks are subject to the reserve requirements of the states in which they are located. There may be less publicly available information about a U.S. branch or subsidiary of a foreign bank or other issuer than about a U.S. bank or other issuer, and such entities may not be subject to the same accounting, auditing and financial record keeping standards and requirements as U.S. issuers. Evidence of ownership of Eurodollar and foreign obligations may be held outside the United States, and the Funds may be subject to the risks associated with the holding of such property overseas. Eurodollar and foreign obligations of the Funds held overseas will be held by foreign branches of each Fund’s custodian or by other U.S. or foreign banks under subcustodian arrangements complying with the requirements of the Investment Company Act.

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The Manager will carefully consider the above factors in making investments in Eurodollar obligations, Yankeedollar obligations of foreign depository institutions and other foreign short term obligations, and will not knowingly purchase obligations that, at the time of purchase, are subject to exchange controls or withholding taxes. Generally, a Fund will limit its Yankeedollar investments to obligations of banks organized in Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or other industrialized nations.

Bank money instruments in which a Fund invests must be issued by depository institutions with total assets of at least $1 billion, except that a Fund may invest in certificates of deposit of smaller institutions if such certificates of deposit are Federally insured and if, as a result of such purchase, no more than 10% of total assets (taken at market value), are invested in such certificates of deposit.

Commercial Paper and Other Short Term Obligations. Commercial paper (including variable amount master demand notes and other variable rate securities, with or without forward features) refers to short term unsecured promissory notes issued by corporations, partnerships, trusts or other entities to finance short term credit needs and non-convertible debt securities (e.g., bonds and debentures) with no more than 397 days (13 months) remaining to maturity at the date of purchase. Short term obligations issued by trusts, corporations, partnerships or other entities include mortgage-related or asset-backed instruments, including pass-through certificates such as participations in, or bonds and notes backed by, pools of mortgage, automobile, manufactured housing or other types of consumer loans; credit card or trade receivables or pools of mortgage-backed or asset-backed securities. These structured financings will be supported by sufficient collateral and other credit enhancements, including letters of credit, insurance, reserve funds and guarantees by third parties, to enable such instruments to obtain the requisite quality rating by a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (“NRSRO”). Some structured financings also use various types of swaps, among other things, to issue instruments that have interest rate, quality or maturity characteristics necessary or desirable for a Fund. These swaps may include so-called credit default swaps that might depend for payment not only on the credit of a counterparty, but also on the obligations of another entity, the “reference entity.”

Foreign Bank Money Instruments. Foreign bank money instruments refer to U.S. dollar-denominated obligations of foreign depository institutions and their foreign branches and subsidiaries, such as, but not limited to, certificates of deposit, bankers’ acceptances, time deposits, bank notes and deposit notes. The obligations of such foreign depository institutions and their foreign branches and subsidiaries may be the general obligations of the parent bank or may be limited to the issuing branch or subsidiary by the terms of the specific obligation or by government regulation. Such investments will only be made if determined to be of comparable quality to other investments permissible for a Fund. A Fund will not invest more than 25% of its total assets (taken at market value at the time of each investment) in these obligations. Investments in foreign entities generally involve the same risks as those described above in connection with investments in Eurodollar and Yankeedollar obligations and obligations of foreign depository institutions and their foreign branches and subsidiaries.

Foreign Short term Debt Instruments. Foreign short term debt instruments refer to U.S. dollar-denominated commercial paper and other short term obligations issued by foreign entities. Such investments are subject to quality standards similar to those applicable to investments in comparable obligations of domestic issuers. These investments generally involve the same risks as those described above in connection with investments in Eurodollar and Yankeedollar obligations and obligations of foreign depository institutions and their foreign branches and subsidiaries.

Forward Commitments. Certain Funds may purchase or sell money market securities on a forward commitment basis at fixed purchase terms. The purchase or sale will be recorded on the date a Fund enters into the commitment, and the value of the security will thereafter be reflected in the calculation of the Fund’s net asset value. The value of the security on the delivery date may be more or less than its purchase price. A Fund will segregate assets consisting of cash or liquid money market securities having a market value at all times at least equal to the amount of the forward purchase commitment. Although a Fund generally will enter into forward commitments with the intention of acquiring securities for its portfolio, a Fund may dispose of a commitment prior to settlement if the Manager deems it appropriate to do so.

There can be no assurance that a security purchased or sold through a forward commitment will be delivered. The value of securities in these transactions on the delivery date may be more or less than a Fund’s purchase price. The

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Fund may bear the risk of a decline in the value of the security in these transactions and may not benefit from an appreciation in the value of the security during the commitment period.

Municipal Investments

Municipal Securities. Certain Funds invest primarily in a portfolio of short term municipal obligations issued by or on behalf of the states, their political subdivisions, agencies and instrumentalities and obligations of other qualifying issuers, such as issuers located in Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, the interest on which (and/or, in the case of property taxes, the value of which) is excludable, in the opinion of bond counsel to the issuer, from gross income for purposes of Federal income taxes and the applicable state’s taxes (“State Taxes”). Obligations that pay interest that is excludable from gross income for Federal income tax purposes are referred to herein as “Municipal Securities,” and obligations that pay interest that is excludable from gross income for Federal income tax purposes and are exempt from the applicable State Taxes are referred to as “State Municipal Securities.” Unless otherwise indicated, references to Municipal Securities shall be deemed to include State Municipal Securities.

Municipal Securities include debt obligations issued to obtain funds for various public purposes, including construction of a wide range of public facilities, refunding of outstanding obligations and obtaining funds for general operating expenses and loans to other public institutions and facilities. In addition, certain types of bonds are issued by or on behalf of public authorities to finance various facilities operated for private profit. Such obligations are included within the term Municipal Securities if the interest paid thereon is excludable from gross income for Federal income tax purposes.

The two principal classifications of Municipal Securities are “general obligation” bonds and “revenue” or “special obligation” bonds. General obligation bonds are secured by the issuer’s pledge of its faith, credit and taxing power for the repayment of principal and the payment of interest. Revenue or special obligation bonds are payable only from the revenues derived from a particular facility or class of facilities or, in some cases, from the proceeds of a special excise tax or other specific revenue source such as from the user of the facility being financed. Private activity bonds (or “industrial development bonds” under pre-1986 law) are in most cases revenue bonds and do not generally constitute the pledge of the credit or taxing power of the issuer of such bonds. The repayment of the principal and the payment of interest on such private activity bonds depends solely on the ability of the user of the facilities financed by the bonds to meet its financial obligation and the pledge, if any, of real and personal property so financed as security for such payment. In addition, private activity bonds may pay interest that is subject to the Federal alternative minimum tax. A Fund’s portfolio may include “moral obligation” bonds, which are normally issued by special purpose public authorities. If an issuer of moral obligation bonds is unable to meet its debt service obligations from current revenues, it may draw on a reserve fund, the restoration of which is a moral commitment but not a legal obligation of a state or municipality.

Yields on Municipal Securities are dependent on a variety of factors, including the general condition of the money market and of the municipal bond market, the size of a particular offering, the maturity of the obligation, and the rating of the issuer. The ability of a Fund to achieve its investment objective is also dependent on the continuing ability of the issuers of the Municipal Securities in which the Fund invests to meet their obligations for the payment of interest and the repayment of principal when due. There are variations in the risks involved in holding Municipal Securities, both within a particular classification and between classifications, depending on numerous factors. Furthermore, the rights of holders of Municipal Securities and the obligations of the issuers of such Municipal Securities may be subject to applicable bankruptcy, insolvency and similar laws and court decisions affecting the rights of creditors generally, and such laws, if any, which may be enacted by Congress or state legislatures affecting specifically the rights of holders of Municipal Securities.

A Fund’s ability to distribute dividends exempt from Federal income tax will depend on the exclusion from gross income of the interest income that it receives on the Municipal Securities in which it invests. A Fund will only purchase a Municipal Security if it is accompanied by an opinion of counsel to the issuer, which is delivered on the date of issuance of that security, that interest on such securities is excludable from gross income for Federal income tax purposes (the “tax exemption opinion”).

Events occurring after the date of issuance of the Municipal Securities, however, may cause the interest on such securities to be includable in gross income for Federal income tax purposes. For example, the Internal Revenue

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Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) establishes certain requirements, such as restrictions as to the investment of the proceeds of the issue, limitations as to the use of proceeds of such issue and the property financed by such proceeds, and the payment of certain excess earnings to the Federal government, that must be met after the issuance of the Municipal Securities for interest on such securities to remain excludable from gross income for Federal income tax purposes. The issuers and the conduit borrowers of the Municipal Securities generally covenant to comply with such requirements and the tax exemption opinion generally assumes continuing compliance with such requirements. Failure to comply with these continuing requirements, however, may cause the interest on such Municipal Securities to be includable in gross income for Federal income tax purposes retroactive to their date of issue.

In addition, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) has an ongoing enforcement program that involves the audit of tax exempt bonds to determine whether an issue of bonds satisfies all of the requirements that must be met for interest on such bonds to be excludable from gross income for Federal income tax purposes. From time to time, some of the Municipal Securities held by a Fund may be the subject of such an audit by the IRS, and the IRS may determine that the interest on such securities is includable in gross income for Federal income tax purposes either because the IRS has taken a legal position adverse to the conclusion reached by the counsel to the issuer in the tax exemption opinion or as a result of an action taken or not taken after the date of issue of such obligation.

If interest paid on a Municipal Security in which a Fund invests is determined to be taxable subsequent to the Fund’s acquisition of such security, the IRS may demand that such Fund pay taxes on the affected interest income and, if the Fund agrees to do so, its yield could be adversely affected. If the interest paid on any Municipal Security held by a Fund is determined to be taxable, such Fund will dispose of the security as soon as practicable. A determination that interest on a security held by a Fund is includable in gross income for Federal or state income tax purposes retroactively to its date of issue may, likewise, cause a portion of prior distributions received by shareholders to be taxable to those shareholders in the year of receipt.

From time to time, proposals have been introduced before Congress for the purpose of restricting or eliminating the Federal income tax exclusion for interest on Municipal Securities. Similar proposals may be introduced in the future. If such a proposal were enacted, the ability of each Fund to pay “exempt-interest dividends” would be affected adversely and the Fund would re-evaluate its investment objectives and policies and consider changes in structure. See “Dividends and Taxes - Taxes.”

Municipal Securities - Derivative Products. Derivative Products are typically structured by a bank, broker-dealer or other financial institution. A Derivative Product generally consists of a trust or partnership through which a Fund holds an interest in one or more underlying bonds coupled with a right to sell (“put”) the Fund’s interest in the underlying bonds at par plus accrued interest to a financial institution (a “Liquidity Provider”). Typically, a Derivative Product is structured as a trust or partnership that provides for pass-through tax-exempt income. There are currently three principal types of derivative structures: (1) “Tender Option Bonds,” which are instruments that grant the holder thereof the right to put an underlying bond at par plus accrued interest at specified intervals to a Liquidity Provider; (2) “Swap Products,” in which the trust or partnership swaps the payments due on an underlying bond with a swap counterparty who agrees to pay a floating municipal money market interest rate; and (3) “Partnerships,” which allocate to the partners portions of income, expenses, capital gains and losses associated with holding an underlying bond in accordance with a governing agreement. A Fund may also invest in other forms of short term Derivative Products eligible for investment by money market funds.

Investments in Derivative Products raise certain tax, legal, regulatory and accounting issues that may not be presented by investments in other municipal bonds. There is some risk that certain issues could be resolved in a manner that could adversely impact the performance of a Fund. For example, the tax-exempt treatment of the interest paid to holders of Derivative Products is premised on the legal conclusion that the holders of such Derivative Products have an ownership interest in the underlying bonds. Were the IRS or any state taxing authority to issue an adverse ruling or take an adverse position with respect to the taxation of Derivative Products, there is a risk that the interest paid on such Derivative Products or, in the case of property taxes, the value of such Fund to the extent represented by such Derivative Products, would be deemed taxable at the Federal and/or state level.

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Municipal Notes. Municipal notes are shorter term municipal debt obligations. They may provide interim financing in anticipation of tax collection, bond sales or revenue receipts. If there is a shortfall in the anticipated proceeds, the note may not be fully repaid and a Fund may lose money.

Municipal Commercial Paper. Municipal commercial paper is generally unsecured and issued to meet short term financing needs. The lack of security presents some risk of loss to a Fund since, in the event of an issuer’s bankruptcy, unsecured creditors are repaid only after the secured creditors are paid out of the assets, if any, that remain.

Municipal Lease Obligations. Also included within the general category of State Municipal Securities are Certificates of Participation (“COPs”) issued by governmental authorities or entities to finance the acquisition or construction of equipment, land and/or facilities. The COPs represent participations in a lease, an installment purchase contract or a conditional sales contract (hereinafter collectively called “lease obligations”) relating to such equipment, land or facilities. Although lease obligations do not constitute general obligations of the issuer for which the issuer’s unlimited taxing power is pledged, a lease obligation is frequently backed by the issuer’s covenant to budget for, appropriate and make the payments due under the lease obligation. However, certain lease obligations contain “non-appropriation” clauses that provide that the issuer has no obligation to make lease or installment purchase payments in future years unless money is appropriated for such purpose on a yearly basis. Although “non-appropriation” lease obligations are secured by the leased property, disposition of the property in the event of foreclosure might prove difficult. The securities represent a type of financing that has not yet developed the depth of marketability associated with more conventional securities. Certain investments in lease obligations may be illiquid. A Fund may not invest in illiquid lease obligations if such investments, together with all other illiquid investments, would exceed 10% of such Fund’s net assets. A Fund may, however, invest without regard to such limitation in lease obligations that the Manager, pursuant to guidelines adopted by the Board of Trustees and subject to the supervision of the Board, determines to be liquid. The Manager will deem lease obligations to be liquid if they are publicly offered and have received an investment grade rating of Baa or better by Moody’s Investor Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”), or BBB or better by Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) or Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”). Unrated lease obligations, or those rated below investment grade, will be considered liquid if the obligations come to the market through an underwritten public offering and at least two dealers are willing to give competitive bids. In reference to the latter, the Manager must, among other things, also review the creditworthiness of the entity obligated to make payment under the lease obligation and make certain specified determinations based on such factors as the existence of a rating or credit enhancement, such as insurance, the frequency of trades or quotes for the obligation and the willingness of dealers to make a market in the obligation.

Municipal Securities - Short-Term Maturity Standards. All of the investments of a Fund in Municipal Securities will be in securities with remaining maturities of 397 days (13 months) or less. The dollar-weighted average maturity of each Fund’s portfolio will be 90 days or less. For purposes of this investment policy, an obligation will be treated as having a maturity earlier than its stated maturity date if such obligation has technical features that, in the judgment of the Manager, will result in the obligation being valued in the market as though it has such earlier maturity.

The maturities of Variable Rate Demand Obligations (“VRDOs”) (including Participating VRDOs) are deemed to be the longer of (i) the notice period required before a Fund is entitled to receive payment of the principal amount of the VRDOs on demand or (ii) the period remaining until the VRDO’s next interest rate adjustment. If not redeemed by a Fund through the demand feature, VRDOs mature on a specified date, which may range up to 30 years from the date of issuance. See “VDROs and Participating VDROs” below.

Municipal Securities - Quality Standards. A Fund’s portfolio investments in municipal notes and short term tax-exempt commercial paper will be limited to those obligations that are (i) secured by a pledge of the full faith and credit of the United States or (ii) rated, or issued by issuers that have been rated, in one of the two highest rating categories for short term municipal debt obligations by an NRSRO or, if not rated, of comparable quality as determined under procedures approved by the Trustees. A Fund’s investments in municipal bonds will be in issuers that have received from the requisite NRSROs a rating, with respect to a class of short term debt obligations that is comparable in priority and security with the investment, in one of the two highest rating categories for short term obligations or, if not rated, will be of comparable quality as determined under procedures approved by the Trustees. Certain tax-exempt obligations (primarily VRDOs and Participating VRDOs) may be entitled to the benefit of letters

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of credit or similar credit enhancements issued by financial institutions. In such instances, in assessing the quality of such instruments, the Trustees and the Manager will take into account not only the creditworthiness of the issuers, but also the creditworthiness and type of obligation of the financial institution. The type of obligation of the financial institution concerns, for example, whether the letter of credit or similar credit enhancement being issued is conditional or unconditional. Certain Funds also may purchase other types of municipal instruments if, in the opinion of the Trustees or the Manager (as determined in accordance with the procedures established by the Trustees), such obligations are equivalent to securities that have the ratings described above. For a description of debt ratings, see Appendix A —”Description of Debt Ratings.”

A Fund may not invest in any security issued by a depository institution unless such institution is organized and operating in the United States, has total assets of at least $1 billion and is federally insured. Preservation of capital is a prime investment objective of the Funds, and while the types of money market securities in which the Funds invest generally are considered to have low principal risk, such securities are not completely risk free. There is a risk of the failure of issuers or credit enhancers to meet their principal and interest obligations. With respect to repurchase agreements and purchase and sale contracts, there is also the risk of the failure of the parties involved to repurchase at the agreed-upon price, in which event each Fund may suffer time delays and incur costs or possible losses in connection with such transactions.

Municipal Securities - Other Factors. Management of the Funds will endeavor to be as fully invested as reasonably practicable in order to maximize the yield on each Fund’s portfolio. Not all short term municipal securities trade on the basis of same day settlements and, accordingly, a portfolio of such securities cannot be managed on a daily basis with the same flexibility as a portfolio of money market securities, which can be bought and sold on a same day basis. There may be times when a Fund has uninvested cash resulting from an influx of cash due to large purchases of shares or the maturing of portfolio securities. A Fund also may be required to maintain cash reserves or incur temporary bank borrowings to make redemption payments, which are made on the same day the redemption request is received. Such inability to be invested fully would lower the yield on such Fund’s portfolio.

Because certain Funds may at times invest a substantial portion of their assets in Municipal Securities secured by bank letters of credit or guarantees, an investment in a Fund should be made with an understanding of the characteristics of the banking industry and the risks that such an investment in such credit enhanced securities may entail. Banks are subject to extensive governmental regulations that may limit both the amounts and types of loans and other financial commitments that may be made and interest rates and fees that may be charged. The profitability of the banking industry is largely dependent on the availability and cost of capital funds for the purpose of financing lending operations under prevailing money market conditions. Furthermore, general economic conditions play an important part in the operations of this industry and exposure to credit losses arising from possible financial difficulties of borrowers might affect a bank’s ability to meet its obligations under a letter of credit.

Changes to the Code may limit the types and volume of securities qualifying for the Federal income tax exemption of interest; this may affect the availability of Municipal Securities for investment by the Funds, which could, in turn, have a negative impact on the yield of the portfolios. A Fund reserves the right to suspend or otherwise limit sales of its shares if, as a result of difficulties in acquiring portfolio securities or otherwise, it is determined that it is not in the interests of the Fund’s shareholders to issue additional shares.

Single State Risk. Because certain Funds invest primarily in the Municipal Securities of a single state, each such Fund is more susceptible to factors adversely affecting issuers of Municipal Securities in such state than is a fund that is not concentrated in issuers of a single state’s State Municipal Securities to this degree. Because each Fund’s portfolio will be comprised primarily of short term, high quality securities, each Fund is expected to be less subject to market and credit risks than a fund that invests in longer term or lower quality State Municipal Securities.

A Fund may invest more than 25% of the value of its total assets in Municipal Securities that are related in such a way that an economic, business or political development or change affecting one such security also would affect the other securities such as, for example, securities the interest on which is paid from revenues of similar types of projects. As a result, each Fund may be subject to greater risk than funds that do not follow this practice.

VRDOs and Participating VRDOs. VRDOs are tax-exempt obligations that contain a floating or variable interest rate adjustment formula and right of demand on the part of the holder thereof to receive payment of the unpaid

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balance plus accrued interest upon a short notice period not to exceed seven days. There is, however, the possibility that because of default or insolvency the demand feature of VRDOs and Participating VRDOs may not be honored. The interest rates are adjustable at intervals (ranging from daily to one year) to some prevailing market rate of the VRDOs at approximately the par value of the VRDOs on the adjustment date. The adjustment may be based upon the Public Securities Index or some other appropriate interest rate adjustment index. Each Fund may invest in all types of tax-exempt instruments currently outstanding or to be issued in the future that satisfy its short term maturity and quality standards.

Participating VRDOs provide a Fund with a specified undivided interest (up to 100%) of the underlying obligation and the right to demand payment of the unpaid principal balance plus accrued interest on the Participating VRDOs from a financial institution upon a specified number of days notice, not to exceed seven days. In addition, a Participating VRDO is backed by an irrevocable letter of credit or guaranty of the financial institution. A Fund would have an undivided interest in an underlying obligation and thus participate on the same basis as the financial institution in such obligation except that the financial institution typically retains fees out of the interest paid on the obligation for servicing the obligation, providing the letter of credit or issuing the repurchase commitment. Certain Funds have been advised by counsel that they should be entitled to treat the income received on Participating VRDOs as interest from tax-exempt obligations. It is contemplated that no Fund will invest more than a limited amount of its total assets in Participating VRDOs. Neither CMA Tax-Exempt nor WCMA Tax-Exempt currently intends to invest more than 20% of its total assets in Participating VRDOs.

VRDOs that contain a right of demand to receive payment of the unpaid principal balance plus accrued interest on a notice period exceeding seven days may be deemed to be illiquid securities. A VRDO with a demand notice period exceeding seven days will, therefore, be subject to each Fund’s restrictions on illiquid investments unless, in the judgment of the Trustees, such VRDO is liquid. The Trustees may adopt guidelines and delegate to the Manager the daily function of determining and monitoring liquidity of such VRDOs. The Trustees, however, will retain sufficient oversight and be ultimately responsible for such determinations.

Because of the interest rate adjustment formula on VRDOs (including Participating VRDOs), the VRDOs are not comparable to fixed rate securities. A Fund’s yield on VRDOs will decline and its shareholders will forego the opportunity for capital appreciation during periods when prevailing interest rates have declined. On the other hand, during periods where prevailing interest rates have increased, a Fund’s yield on VRDOs will increase and its shareholders will have a reduced risk of capital depreciation.

Purchase of Securities with Fixed Price “Puts.” Certain Funds have authority to purchase fixed rate Municipal Securities and, for a price, simultaneously acquire the right to sell such securities back to the seller at an agreed-upon rate at any time during a stated period or on a certain date. Such a right is generally denoted as a fixed price put. Puts with respect to fixed rate instruments are to be distinguished from the demand or repurchase features of VRDOs and Participating VRDOs that enable certain Funds to dispose of such a security at a time when the market value of the security approximates its par value.

Taxable Money Market Securities. Certain Funds may invest in a variety of taxable money market securities (“Taxable Securities”). The Taxable Securities in which certain Funds may invest consist of U.S. Government securities, U.S. Government agency securities, domestic bank certificates of deposit and bankers’ acceptances, short term corporate debt securities such as commercial paper and repurchase agreements. These investments must have a stated maturity not in excess of 397 days (13 months) from the date of purchase.

The standards applicable to Taxable Securities in which certain Funds invest are essentially the same as those described above with respect to Municipal Securities. Certain Funds may not invest in any security issued by a depository institution unless such institution is organized and operating in the United States, has total assets of at least $1 billion and is federally insured.

Taxable Securities in which certain Funds may invest will be rated, or will be issued by issuers that have been rated, in one of the two highest rating categories for short term debt obligations by an NRSRO or, if not rated, will be of comparable quality as determined under procedures approved by the Trustees. Certain Funds will not invest in taxable short term money market securities.

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Repurchase Agreements and Purchase and Sale Contracts. Funds may invest in Taxable Securities pursuant to repurchase agreements. Repurchase agreements may be entered into only with a member bank of the Federal Reserve System or primary dealer in U.S. Government securities or an affiliate thereof that meets the creditworthiness standards adopted by the Board of Trustees. Under such agreements, the bank or primary dealer or an affiliate thereof agrees, upon entering into the contract, to repurchase the security at a mutually agreed upon time and price, thereby determining the yield during the term of the agreement. This results in a fixed rate of return insulated from market fluctuations during such period. Repurchase agreements may be construed to be collateralized loans by the purchaser to the seller secured by the securities transferred to the purchaser. In the case of a repurchase agreement, a Fund will require the seller to provide additional collateral if the market value of the securities falls below the repurchase price at any time during the term of the repurchase agreement. In the event of default by the seller under a repurchase agreement construed to be a collateralized loan, the underlying securities are not owned by the Fund but only constitute collateral for the seller’s obligation to pay the repurchase price. Therefore, a Fund may suffer time delays and incur costs or possible losses in connection with the disposition of the collateral. In the event of a default under a repurchase agreement that is construed to be a collateralized loan, instead of the contractual fixed rate of return, the rate of return to a Fund will depend upon intervening fluctuations of the market value of such security and the accrued interest on the security. In such event, a Fund would have rights against the seller for breach of contract with respect to any losses arising from market fluctuations following the failure of the seller to perform.

In general, for Federal income tax purposes, repurchase agreements are treated as collateralized loans secured by the securities “sold.” Therefore, amounts earned under such agreements, even if the underlying securities are tax-exempt securities, will not be considered tax-exempt interest.

From time to time, a Fund also may invest in money market securities pursuant to purchase and sale contracts. While purchase and sale contracts are similar to repurchase agreements, purchase and sale contracts are structured so as to be in substance more like a purchase and sale of the underlying security than is the case with repurchase agreements and, with purchase and sale contracts, the purchaser receives any interest on the security paid during the period of the contract.

Reverse Repurchase Agreements. A Fund may enter into reverse repurchase agreements with the same parties with whom it may enter into repurchase agreements. Under a reverse repurchase agreement, a Fund sells securities to another party and agrees to repurchase them at a mutually agreed-upon date and price. At the time a Fund enters into a reverse repurchase agreement, it will segregate liquid assets with a value not less than the repurchase price (including accrued interest). Reverse repurchase agreements involve the risk that (i) the market value of the securities retained in lieu of sale by a Fund may decline below the price of the securities the Fund has sold but is obligated to repurchase and (ii) the price of the securities sold may decline below the price at which the Fund is required to repurchase them. In addition, if the buyer of securities under a reverse repurchase agreement files for bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, such buyer or its trustee or receiver may receive an extension of time to determine whether to enforce a Fund’s obligations to repurchase the securities and the Fund’s use of the proceeds of the reverse repurchase agreement may effectively be restricted pending such decision.

Securities Lending. Each Fund may lend portfolio securities with a value not exceeding 33¹/3% of its total assets or the limit prescribed by applicable law to banks, brokers and other financial institutions. In return, the Fund receives collateral in cash or securities issued or guaranteed by the U.S. Government, which will be maintained at all times in an amount equal to at least 100% of the current market value of the loaned securities. Each Fund lending portfolio securities retains the right to vote or consent on proxy proposals involving material events affecting the securities loaned. A Fund receives the income on the loaned securities. Where a Fund receives securities as collateral, the Fund receives a fee for its loans from the borrower and does not receive the income on the collateral. Where a Fund receives cash collateral, it may invest such collateral and retain the amount earned, net of any amount rebated to the borrower. As a result, the Fund’s yield may increase. Loans of securities are terminable at any time and the borrower, after notice, is required to return borrowed securities within the standard time period for settlement of securities transactions. The Fund is obligated to return the collateral to the borrower at the termination of the loan. A Fund could suffer a loss in the event the Fund must return the cash collateral and there are losses on investments made with the cash collateral. In the event the borrower defaults on any of its obligations with respect to a securities loan, a Fund could suffer a loss where there are losses on investments made with the cash collateral or where the value of the securities collateral falls below the market value of the borrowed securities. A Fund could also

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experience delays and costs in gaining access to the collateral. Each Fund may pay reasonable finder’s, lending agent, administrative and custodial fees in connection with its loans. Each Fund has received an exemptive order from the Commission permitting it to lend portfolio securities to affiliates of the Fund and to retain an affiliate of the Fund as lending agent.

When Issued Securities, Delayed Delivery Securities and Forward Commitments. A Fund may purchase or sell securities that it is entitled to receive on a when issued basis. A Fund may also purchase or sell securities on a delayed delivery basis or through a forward commitment. These transactions involve the purchase or sale of securities by a Fund at an established price with payment and delivery taking place in the future. The Fund enters into these transactions to obtain what is considered an advantageous price to the Fund at the time of entering into the transaction. When a Fund purchases securities in these transactions, the Fund segregates liquid securities in an amount equal to the amount of its purchase commitments.

There can be no assurance that a security purchased on a when issued basis will be issued or that a security purchased or sold on a delayed delivery basis or through a forward commitment will be delivered. Also, the value of securities in these transactions on the delivery date may be more or less than the price paid by the Fund to purchase the securities. The Fund will lose money if the value of the security in such a transaction declines below the purchase price and will not benefit if the value of the security appreciates above the sale price during the commitment period.

Diversification Status

Each Fund’s investments will be limited in order to allow the Fund to continue to qualify as a regulated investment company (“RIC”) under the Code. To qualify, among other requirements, each Fund will limit its investments so that at the close of each quarter of the taxable year (i) at least 50% of the market value of each Fund’s assets is represented by cash, securities of other RICs, U.S. government securities and other securities, with such other securities limited, in respect of any one issuer, to an amount not greater than 5% of the Fund’s assets and not greater than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of such issuer and (ii) not more than 25% of the value of its assets is invested in the securities (other than U.S. government securities or securities of other RICs) of any one issuer, any two or more issuers that the Fund controls and that are determined to be engaged in the same or similar trades or businesses or related trades or businesses or in the securities of one or more qualified publicly traded partnerships (i.e., partnerships that are traded on an established securities market or tradable on a secondary market, other than partnerships that derive 90% of their income from interest, dividends, capital gains, and other traditional permitted mutual fund income). For purposes of this restriction, the CMA State Funds, CMA Tax-Exempt and WCMA Tax-Exempt generally will regard each state and each of its political subdivisions, agencies or instrumentalities, and each multi-state agency of which the state is a member as a separate issuer. Each public authority that issues securities on behalf of a private entity generally will also be regarded as a separate issuer, except that if the security is backed only by the assets and revenues of a non-government entity, then the entity with the ultimate responsibility for the payment of interest and principal may be regarded as the sole issuer. These tax-related limitations may be changed by the Board of Trustees of CMA State Funds, CMA Tax-Exempt and WCMA Tax-Exempt to the extent necessary to comply with changes to the Federal tax requirements. See “Dividends and Taxes — Taxes.”

Each Fund other than the CMA State Funds has elected to be classified as “diversified” under the Investment Company Act and must satisfy the foregoing 5% and 10% requirements with respect to 75% of its total assets.

MANAGEMENT AND OTHER SERVICE ARRANGEMENTS

Trustees and Officers

See Part I, Section III “Information on Trustees and Officers — Biographical Information,” “—Share Ownership and” — “Compensation of Trustees” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for biographical and certain other information relating to the Trustees and officers of your Fund, including Trustees’ compensation.

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Management Arrangements

Management Services. The Manager provides each Fund with investment advisory and management services. Subject to the supervision of the Board of Trustees, the Manager is responsible for the actual management of a Fund’s portfolio and reviews the Fund’s holdings in light of its own research analysis and that from other relevant sources. The responsibility for making decisions to buy, sell or hold a particular security rests with the Manager. The Manager performs certain of the other administrative services and provides all the office space, facilities, equipment and necessary personnel for management of each Fund.

Each Feeder Fund invests all or a portion of its assets in shares of a Master Portfolio. To the extent a Feeder Fund invests all of its assets in a Master Portfolio, it does not invest directly in portfolio securities and does not require management services. For such Feeder Funds, portfolio management occurs at the Master Portfolio level.

Management Fee. Each Fund has entered into a management agreement with the Manager pursuant to which the Manager receives for its services to the Fund monthly compensation at an annual rate based on the average daily net assets of the Fund. For information regarding specific fee rates for your Fund and the fees paid by your Fund to the Manager for the Fund’s last three fiscal years or other applicable periods, see Part I, Section IV “Management and Advisory Arrangements” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information. Each Management Agreement obligates the Manager to provide investment advisory services and to pay, or cause an affiliate to pay, for maintaining its staff and personnel and to provide office space, facilities and necessary personnel for the Fund. Each Manager is also obligated to pay, or cause an affiliate to pay, the fees of all officers and Trustees of the Fund who are affiliated persons of the Manager or any affiliate.

For Funds that do not have an administration agreement with the Manager, each Management Agreement obligates the Manager to provide management services and to pay all compensation of and furnish office space for officers and employees of a Fund connected with investment and economic research, trading and investment management of the Fund, as well as the fees of all Trustees of the Fund who are interested persons of the Fund. Each Fund pays all other expenses incurred in the operation of that Fund, including among other things: taxes; expenses for legal and auditing services; costs of preparing, printing and mailing proxies, shareholder reports, prospectuses and statements of additional information, except to the extent paid by BlackRock Investments, Inc. (the “Distributor”), charges of the custodian and sub-custodian, and the transfer agent; expenses of redemption of shares; Commission fees; expenses of registering the shares under Federal, state or foreign laws; fees and expenses of Trustees who are not interested persons of a Fund as defined in the Investment Company Act; accounting and pricing costs (including the daily calculations of net asset value); insurance; interest; brokerage costs; litigation and other extraordinary or non-recurring expenses; and other expenses properly payable by the Fund. Certain accounting services are provided to each Fund by State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”) pursuant to an agreement between State Street and each Fund. Each Fund pays a fee for these services. In addition, the Manager provides certain accounting services to each Fund and the Fund pays the Manager a fee for such services. The Distributors pay certain promotional expenses of the Funds incurred in connection with the offering of shares of the Funds. Certain expenses are financed by each Fund pursuant to distribution plans in compliance with Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act. See “Purchase of Shares — Distribution Plans.”

Sub-Advisory Fee. The Manager of each Fund has entered into one or more sub-advisory agreements (the “Sub-Advisory Agreements”) with the sub-adviser or sub-advisers identified in each such Fund’s prospectus (the “Sub-Adviser”) pursuant to which the Sub-Adviser provides sub-advisory services to the Manager with respect to the Fund. For information relating to the fees, if any, paid by the Manager to the Sub-Adviser pursuant to the Sub-Advisory Agreement for the Fund’s last three fiscal years or other applicable periods, see Part I, Section IV “Management and Advisory Arrangements” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

Organization of the Manager. The Manager, BlackRock Advisors, LLC, is a Delaware limited liability company and an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc. On September 29, 2006, BlackRock, Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (“ML & Co.”) combined Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, L.P. (“MLIM”) and certain affiliates with BlackRock, Inc. to create a new asset management company. As a result of that transaction, ML & Co., a

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financial services holding company and the parent of Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, owns approximately 49% of BlackRock, Inc., The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (“PNC”) owns approximately 34%, and approximately 17% is held by employees and public shareholders. ML & Co. and PNC may be deemed to be “controlling persons” of the Manager (as defined under the Investment Company Act) because of their ownership of BlackRock Inc.’s voting securities or their power to exercise a controlling influence over BlackRock, Inc.’s management or policies. Each Sub-Adviser is an affiliate of the Manager and is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of BlackRock, Inc.

Duration and Termination. Unless earlier terminated as described below, each Management Agreement and each Sub-Advisory Agreement will remain in effect from year to year if approved annually (a) by the Trustees or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of the Fund and (b) by a majority of the Trustees who are not parties to such agreement or interested persons (as defined in the Investment Company Act) of any such party. The Agreements are not assignable and may be terminated without penalty on 60 days’ written notice at the option of either party thereto or by the vote of the shareholders of the Fund.

Other Service Arrangements

Administrative Services and Administrative Fee. Certain Funds have entered into an administration agreement (the “Administration Agreement”) with an administrator identified in the Fund’s Prospectus and Part I of the Fund’s Statement of Additional Information (each, an “Administrator”). For its services to a Fund, the Administrator receives monthly compensation at the annual rate set forth in each applicable Fund’s prospectus. For information regarding any administrative fees paid by your Fund to the Administrator for the periods indicated, see Part I, Section IV “Management and Advisory Arrangements” of that Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

For Funds that have an Administrator, the Administration Agreement obligates the Administrator to provide certain administrative services to the Fund and to pay, or cause its affiliates to pay, for maintaining its staff and personnel and to provide office space, facilities and necessary personnel for the Fund. Each Administrator is also obligated to pay, or cause its affiliates to pay, the fees of those officers and Trustees of the Fund who are affiliated persons of the Administrator or any of its affiliates.

Duration and Termination of Administration Agreement. Unless earlier terminated as described below, each Administration Agreement will continue from year to year if approved annually (a) by the Board of Trustees of each applicable Fund or by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities of such Fund and (b) by a majority of the Trustees of the Fund who are not parties to such contract or interested persons (as defined in the Investment Company Act) of any such party. Such contract is not assignable and may be terminated without penalty on 60 days’ written notice at the option of either party thereto or by the vote of the shareholders of the Fund.

Transfer Agency Services. Financial Data Services, Inc. (the “Transfer Agent”), a subsidiary of ML & Co., acts as each Fund’s Transfer Agent pursuant to a Unified Transfer Agency, Dividend Disbursing Agency and Shareholder Servicing Agency Agreement (the “Transfer Agency Agreement”). Pursuant to the Transfer Agency Agreement, the Transfer Agent is responsible for the issuance, transfer and redemption of shares and the opening and maintenance of shareholder accounts. Ready Assets Trust, U.S.A. Government Reserves and U.S. Treasury Money each pay a fee of $15.00 per account. The CMA Funds and WCMA Funds each pay a fee of $10.00 per account. Retirement Reserves pays a fee of $6.50 per account with less than $1 million in assets and $6.00 per account for each account with greater than $1 million in assets thereafter. Each Fund reimburses the Transfer Agent’s reasonable out-of-pocket expenses. Additionally, with respect to each Fund, a $0.20 monthly closed account charge will generally be assessed on all accounts that close during the calendar year. Application of this fee will commence the month following the month the account is closed. At the end of the calendar year, no further fees will be due. For purposes of each Transfer Agency Agreement, the term “account” includes a shareholder account maintained directly by the Transfer Agent and any other account representing the beneficial interest of a person in the relevant share class on a recordkeeping system provided the recordkeeping system is maintained by a subsidiary of ML & Co. See Part I, Section IV “Management and Advisory Arrangements — Transfer Agency Fees” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for information on the transfer agency fees paid by your Fund for the periods indicated. With regard to the WCMA Funds, see “Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement” in Part I of the WCMA Funds’ Statement of Additional Information.

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Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm. The Audit Committee of each Fund, which is comprised solely of non-interested Trustees, has selected an independent registered public accounting firm for that Fund that audits the Fund’s financial statements. Please see the inside back cover page of your Fund’s Prospectus for information on your Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm.

Custodian Services. The name and address of the custodian (the “Custodian”) of each Fund appears on the inside back cover page of the Fund’s Prospectus. The Custodian is responsible for safeguarding and controlling the Fund’s cash and securities, handling the receipt and delivery of securities and collecting interest and dividends on the Fund’s investments. The Custodian is authorized to establish separate accounts in foreign currencies and to cause foreign securities owned by the Fund to be held in its offices outside the United States and with certain foreign banks and securities depositories.

Accounting Services. Each Fund has entered into an agreement with State Street Bank and Trust Company (“State Street”), pursuant to which State Street provides certain accounting services to the Fund. Each Fund pays a fee for these services. State Street provides similar accounting services to the Master LLCs. The Manager or the Administrator also provides certain accounting services to each Fund and each Fund reimburses the Manager or the Administrator for these services. With regard to the WCMA Funds, see “Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement” in Part I of the WCMA Funds’ Statement of Additional Information.

See Part I, Section IV “Management and Advisory Arrangements — Accounting Services” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for information on the amounts paid by your Fund and, if applicable, Master LLC, to State Street, the Manager and/or the Administrator for the periods indicated.

Distribution Expenses. Each Fund has entered into a distribution agreement with the Distributor in connection with the continuous offering of each class of shares of the Fund (the “Distribution Agreement”). The Distribution Agreement obligates the Distributor to pay certain expenses in connection with the offering of each class of shares of the Funds. After the prospectuses, statements of additional information and periodic reports have been prepared, set in type and mailed to shareholders, the Distributor pays for the printing and distribution of these documents used in connection with the offering to dealers and investors. The Distributor also pays for other supplementary sales literature and advertising costs. The Distribution Agreement is subject to the same renewal requirements and termination provisions as the Management Agreement described above. With regard to the WCMA Funds, see “Fee Waiver/Expense Reimbursement” in Part I of the WCMA Funds’ Statement of Additional Information.

Code of Ethics

Each Fund, the Manager, each Sub-Adviser and the Distributor has adopted a Code of Ethics pursuant to Rule 17j-1 under the Investment Company Act. The Code of Ethics establishes procedures for personal investing and restricts certain transactions. Employees subject to the Code of Ethics may invest in securities for their personal investment accounts, including securities that may be purchased or held by a Fund.

Selective Disclosure of Portfolio Holdings

Pursuant to policies and procedures adopted by each Fund and the Manager, each Fund and the Manager may, under certain circumstances as set forth below, make selective disclosure with respect to the Fund’s portfolio holdings. The Board of Trustees of each Fund has approved the adoption by the Fund of the policies and procedures set forth below, and has delegated to the Manager the responsibility for ongoing monitoring and supervision to ensure compliance with these policies and procedures. The Board provides ongoing oversight of the Fund’s and Manager’s compliance with the policies and procedures. As part of this oversight function, the Trustees receive from the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer at least quarterly and more often, as necessary, reports on compliance with these policies and procedures, including reports on any violations of these policies and procedures that may occur. In addition, the Trustees receive an annual assessment of the adequacy and effect of the policies and procedures with respect to the Fund, and any changes thereto, and an annual review of the operation of the policies and procedures.

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Examples of the information that may be disclosed pursuant to the Fund’s policies and procedures would include (but is not limited to) specific portfolio holdings – including the number of shares held, weightings of particular holdings, specific sector and industry weightings, trading details, and the portfolio manager’s discussion of Fund performance and reasoning for significant changes in portfolio composition. This information may be both material non-public information (“Confidential Information”) and proprietary information of the firm. The Fund may disclose such information to individual investors, institutional investors, financial advisers and other financial intermediaries that sell the Fund’s shares, affiliates of the Fund, third party service providers to the Fund, lenders to the Fund, and independent rating agencies and ranking organizations. The Fund, the Manager and its affiliates receive no compensation or other consideration with respect to such disclosures.

Subject to the exceptions set forth below, Confidential Information relating to a Fund may not be disclosed to persons not employed by the Manager or its affiliates unless such information has been publicly disclosed via a filing with the Commission (e.g., Fund annual report), a press release or placement on a publicly-available internet website, including our website at www.blackrock.com. If the Confidential Information has not been publicly disclosed, an employee of the Manager who wishes to distribute Confidential Information relating to the Fund must first do the following: (i) require the person or company receiving the Confidential Information to sign, before the Manager will provide disclosure of any such information, a confidentiality agreement approved by an attorney in the Manager’s Legal Department in which the person or company (a) agrees to use the Confidential Information solely in connection with a legitimate business use (i.e., due diligence, etc.) and (b) agrees not to trade on the basis of the information so provided; (ii) obtain the authorization of an attorney in the Manager’s Legal Department prior to disclosure; and (iii) only distribute Confidential Information that is at least thirty (30) calendar days old unless a shorter period has specifically been approved by an attorney in the Manager’s Legal Department. Prior to providing any authorization for such disclosure of Confidential Information, an attorney in the Manager’s Legal Department must review the proposed arrangement and make a determination that it is in the best interests of the Fund’s shareholders. In connection with day-to-day portfolio management, the Fund may disclose Confidential Information to executing broker-dealers that is less than thirty days old in order to facilitate the purchase and sale of portfolio holdings. The Fund has adopted policies and procedures, including a Code of Ethics, Code of Conduct, and various policies regarding securities trading and trade allocations, to address potential conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with disclosure of Confidential Information. These procedures are designed, among other things, to prohibit personal trading based on Confidential Information, to ensure that portfolio transactions are conducted in the best interests of each Fund and its shareholders and to prevent portfolio management from using Confidential Information for the benefit of one fund or account at the expense of another. In addition, as noted, an attorney in the Manager’s Legal Department must determine that disclosure of Confidential Information is for a legitimate business purpose and is in the best interests of the Fund’s shareholders, and that any conflicts of interest created by release of the Confidential Information have been addressed by the Manager’s existing policies and procedures. For more information with respect to potential conflicts of interest, see the section entitled “Management and Other Service Arrangements – Potential Conflicts of Interest” in this Statement of Additional Information.

Confidential Information – whether or not publicly disclosed – may be disclosed to Fund Trustees, the independent Trustees’ counsel, the Fund’s outside counsel, accounting services provider and independent registered public accounting firm without meeting the conditions outlined above. Confidential Information may, with the prior approval of the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer or the Manager’s General Counsel, also be disclosed to any auditor of the parties to a service agreement involving the Fund, or as required by judicial or administrative process or otherwise by applicable law or regulation. If Confidential Information is disclosed to such persons, each such person will be subject to restrictions on trading in the subject securities under either the Fund’s and Manager’s Code of Ethics or an applicable confidentiality agreement, or under applicable laws or regulations or court order.

The Manager and its affiliates have entered into ongoing arrangements to provide monthly and quarterly selective disclosure of Fund portfolio holdings to the following persons or entities:

Fund’s Board of Trustees and, if necessary, independent Trustees’ counsel and Fund counsel

Fund’s Transfer Agent

Fund’s independent registered public accounting firm

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Fund’s accounting services provider – State Street Bank and Trust Company

Fund’s Custodian

Independent rating agencies – Morningstar, Inc. and Lipper Inc.

Information aggregators – Wall Street on Demand, Thomson Financial, eVestment Alliance and Informa PSN Investment Solutions

Sponsors of 401(k) plans that include BlackRock-advised funds – E.I. Dupont de Nemours and Company, Inc.

Consultants for pension plans that invest in BlackRock-advised funds – Rocaton Investment Advisors, LLC;

Mercer Investment Consulting; Watson Wyatt Investment Consulting; Towers Perrin HR Services;

Pinnacle West; Callan Associates; Brockhouse & Cooper; Cambridge Associates; Mercer;

Morningstar/Investorforce; Russell Investments (Mellon Analytical Solutions); and Wilshire Associates

Portfolio Compliance Consultants – i-Flex Solutions, Inc.

Other than with respect to the Board of Trustees, each of the persons or entities set forth above is subject to an agreement to keep the information disclosed confidential and to use it only for legitimate business purposes. Each Trustee has a fiduciary duty as a trustee to act in the best interests of the Fund and its shareholders. Selective disclosure is made to the Fund’s Board of Trustees and independent registered public accounting firm at least quarterly and otherwise as frequently as necessary to enable such persons or entities to provide services to the Fund. Selective disclosure is made to the Fund’s Transfer Agent, accounting services provider, and Custodian as frequently as necessary to enable such persons or entities to provide services to the Fund, typically on a daily basis. Disclosure is made to Lipper Inc. and Wall Street on Demand on a monthly basis and to Morningstar and Thomson Financial on a quarterly basis, and to each such firm upon specific request with the approval of the Manager’s Legal Department. Disclosure is made to 401(k) plan sponsors on a yearly basis and pension plan consultants on a quarterly basis.

The Fund and the Manager monitor, to the extent possible, the use of Confidential Information by the individuals or firms to which it has been disclosed. To do so, in addition to the requirements of any applicable confidentiality agreement and/or the terms and conditions of the Fund’s and Manager’s Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct – all of which require persons or entities in possession of Confidential Information to keep such information confidential and not to trade on such information for their own benefit – the Manager’s compliance personnel under the supervision of the Fund’s Chief Compliance Officer, monitor the Manager’s securities trading desks to determine whether individuals or firms who have received Confidential Information have made any trades on the basis of that information. In addition, the Manager maintains an internal restricted list to prevent trading by the personnel of the Manager or its affiliates in securities – including securities held by the Fund – about which the Manager has Confidential Information. There can be no assurance, however, that the Fund’s policies and procedures with respect to the selective disclosure of Fund portfolio holdings will prevent the misuse of such information by individuals or firms that receive such information.

Potential Conflicts of Interest

Activities of the Manager; BlackRock, Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, “BlackRock”); The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. and its affiliates (collectively, “PNC”); Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated and their affiliates (collectively, “Merrill Lynch”); and Other Accounts Managed by BlackRock, PNC or Merrill Lynch.

BlackRock is one of the world’s largest asset management firms with over $1 trillion in assets under management. Merrill Lynch is a full service investment banking, broker-dealer, asset management and financial services organization. PNC is a diversified financial services organization spanning the retail, business and corporate markets. BlackRock, Merrill Lynch and PNC are affiliates of one another. BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch and their affiliates (including, for these purposes, their directors, partners, trustees, managing members, officers and employees), including the entities and personnel who may be involved in the investment activities and business operations of a Fund (collectively, “Affiliates”), are engaged worldwide in businesses, including equity, fixed income, cash management and alternative investments, and have interests other than that of managing the Fund. These are considerations of which investors in a Fund should be aware, and which may cause conflicts of interest

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that could disadvantage the Fund and its shareholders. These activities and interests include potential multiple advisory, transactional, financial and other interests in securities and other instruments, and companies that may be purchased or sold by a Fund.

BlackRock and its Affiliates, including, without limitation, PNC and Merrill Lynch, have proprietary interests in, and may manage or advise with respect to, accounts or funds (including separate accounts and other funds and collective investment vehicles) that have investment objectives similar to those of a Fund and/or that engage in transactions in the same types of securities, currencies and instruments as the Fund. One or more Affiliates are also major participants in the global currency, equities, swap and fixed income markets, in each case both on a proprietary basis and for the accounts of customers. As such, one or more Affiliates are or may be actively engaged in transactions in the same securities, currencies, and instruments in which a Fund invests. Such activities could affect the prices and availability of the securities, currencies, and instruments in which a Fund invests, which could have an adverse impact on the Fund’s performance. Such transactions, particularly in respect of most proprietary accounts or customer accounts, will be executed independently of a Fund’s transactions and thus at prices or rates that may be more or less favorable than those obtained by the Fund. When the Manager and its advisory affiliates seek to purchase or sell the same assets for their managed accounts, including a Fund, the assets actually purchased or sold may be allocated among the accounts on a basis determined in their good faith discretion to be equitable. In some cases, this system may adversely affect the size or price of the assets purchased or sold for a Fund.

In addition, transactions in investments by one or more other accounts managed by BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch or another Affiliate may have the effect of diluting or otherwise disadvantaging the values, prices or investment strategies of a Fund, particularly, but not limited to, with respect to small capitalization, emerging market or less liquid strategies. This may occur when investment decisions regarding a Fund are based on research or other information that is also used to support decisions for other accounts. When BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch or another Affiliate implements a portfolio decision or strategy on behalf of another account ahead of, or contemporaneously with, similar decisions or strategies for a Fund, market impact, liquidity constraints, or other factors could result in the Fund receiving less favorable trading results and the costs of implementing such decisions or strategies could be increased or the Fund could otherwise be disadvantaged. BlackRock, PNC or Merrill Lynch may, in certain cases, elect to implement internal policies and procedures designed to limit such consequences, which may cause a Fund to be unable to engage in certain activities, including purchasing or disposing of securities, when it might otherwise be desirable for it to do so.

Conflicts may also arise because portfolio decisions regarding a Fund may benefit other accounts managed by BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch or another Affiliate. For example, the sale of a long position or establishment of a short position by a Fund may impair the price of the same security sold short by (and therefore benefit) one or more Affiliates or their other accounts, and the purchase of a security or covering of a short position in a security by a Fund may increase the price of the same security held by (and therefore benefit) one or more Affiliates or their other accounts.

BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch, other Affiliates and their clients may pursue or enforce rights with respect to an issuer in which a Fund has invested, and those activities may have an adverse effect on the Fund. As a result, prices, availability, liquidity and terms of the Fund’s investments may be negatively impacted by the activities of BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch, other Affiliates or their clients, and transactions for the Fund may be impaired or effected at prices or terms that may be less favorable than would otherwise have been the case.

The results of a Fund’s investment activities may differ significantly from the results achieved by the Manager and its Affiliates for their proprietary accounts or other accounts (including investment companies or collective investment vehicles) managed or advised by them. It is possible that one or more Affiliates and such other accounts will achieve investment results that are substantially more or less favorable than the results achieved by a Fund. Moreover, it is possible that a Fund will sustain losses during periods in which one or more Affiliates achieve significant profits on their trading for proprietary or other accounts. The opposite result is also possible. The investment activities of one or more Affiliates for their proprietary accounts and accounts under their management may also limit the investment opportunities for a Fund in certain emerging and other markets in which limitations are imposed upon the amount of investment, in the aggregate or in individual issuers, by affiliated foreign investors.

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From time to time, a Fund’s activities may also be restricted because of regulatory restrictions applicable to one or more Affiliates, and/or their internal policies designed to comply with such restrictions. As a result, there may be periods, for example, when the Manager, and/or one or more Affiliates, will not initiate or recommend certain types of transactions in certain securities or instruments with respect to which the Manager and/or one or more Affiliates are performing services or when position limits have been reached.

In connection with its management of a Fund, the Manager may have access to certain fundamental analysis and proprietary technical models developed by one or more Affiliates (including Merrill Lynch). The Manager will not be under any obligation, however, to effect transactions on behalf of a Fund in accordance with such analysis and models. In addition, neither BlackRock nor any of its Affiliates (including Merrill Lynch and PNC) will have any obligation to make available any information regarding their proprietary activities or strategies, or the activities or strategies used for other accounts managed by them, for the benefit of the management of a Fund and it is not anticipated that the Manager will have access to such information for the purpose of managing the Fund. The proprietary activities or portfolio strategies of BlackRock and its Affiliates (including Merrill Lynch and PNC) or the activities or strategies used for accounts managed by them or other customer accounts could conflict with the transactions and strategies employed by the Manager in managing a Fund.

In addition, certain principals and certain employees of the Manager are also principals or employees of BlackRock, Merrill Lynch, PNC or another Affiliate. As a result, the performance by these principals and employees of their obligations to such other entities may be a consideration of which investors in a Fund should be aware.

The Manager may enter into transactions and invest in securities, instruments and currencies on behalf of a Fund in which customers of BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch or another Affiliate, or, to the extent permitted by the Commission, BlackRock, PNC or Merrill Lynch or another Affiliate, serve as the counterparty, principal or issuer. In such cases, such party’s interests in the transaction will be adverse to the interests of the Fund, and such party may have no incentive to assure that the Fund obtains the best possible prices or terms in connection with the transactions. In addition, the purchase, holding and sale of such investments by a Fund may enhance the profitability of BlackRock, Merrill Lynch and/or PNC or another Affiliate. One or more Affiliates may also create, write or issue Derivatives for their customers, the underlying securities, currencies or instruments of which may be those in which a Fund invests or which may be based on the performance of the Fund. A Fund may, subject to applicable law, purchase investments that are the subject of an underwriting or other distribution by one or more Affiliates and may also enter into transactions with other clients of an Affiliate where such other clients have interests adverse to those of the Fund. At times, these activities may cause departments of BlackRock or its Affiliates to give advice to clients that may cause these clients to take actions adverse to the interests of the Fund. To the extent affiliated transactions are permitted, a Fund will deal with BlackRock and its Affiliates on an arms-length basis. BlackRock, PNC or Merrill Lynch or another Affiliate may also have an ownership interest in certain trading or information systems used by a Fund. A Fund’s use of such trading or information systems may enhance the profitability of BlackRock and its Affiliates.

One or more Affiliates may act as broker, dealer, agent, lender or advisor or in other commercial capacities for a Fund. It is anticipated that the commissions, mark-ups, mark-downs, financial advisory fees, underwriting and placement fees, sales fees, financing and commitment fees, brokerage fees, other fees, compensation or profits, rates, terms and conditions charged by an Affiliate will be in its view commercially reasonable, although each Affiliate, including its sales personnel, will have an interest in obtaining fees and other amounts that are favorable to the Affiliate and such sales personnel.

Subject to applicable law, the Affiliates (and their personnel and other distributors) will be entitled to retain fees and other amounts that they receive in connection with their service to the Funds as broker, dealer, agent, lender, advisor or in other commercial capacities and no accounting to the Funds or their shareholders will be required, and no fees or other compensation payable by the Funds or their shareholders will be reduced by reason of receipt by an Affiliate of any such fees or other amounts. When an Affiliate acts as broker, dealer, agent, adviser or in other commercial capacities in relation to the Funds, the Affiliate may take commercial steps in its own interests, which may have an adverse effect on the Funds.

A Fund will be required to establish business relationships with its counterparties based on the Fund’s own credit standing. Neither BlackRock nor any of the Affiliates will have any obligation to allow their credit to be used in

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connection with a Fund’s establishment of its business relationships, nor is it expected that the Fund’s counterparties will rely on the credit of BlackRock or any of the Affiliates in evaluating the Fund’s creditworthiness.

Purchases and sales of securities for a Fund may be bunched or aggregated with orders for other BlackRock client accounts. The Manager and its advisory affiliates, however, are not required to bunch or aggregate orders if portfolio management decisions for different accounts are made separately, or if they determine that bunching or aggregating is not practicable, required or with cases involving client direction.

Prevailing trading activity frequently may make impossible the receipt of the same price or execution on the entire volume of securities purchased or sold. When this occurs, the various prices may be averaged, and the Funds will be charged or credited with the average price. Thus, the effect of the aggregation may operate on some occasions to the disadvantage of the Funds. In addition, under certain circumstances, the Funds will not be charged the same commission or commission equivalent rates in connection with a bunched or aggregated order.

The Manager may select brokers (including, without limitation, Affiliates of the Manager) that furnish the Manager, the Funds, other BlackRock client accounts or other Affiliates or personnel, directly or through correspondent relationships, with research or other appropriate services which provide, in the Manager’s view, appropriate assistance to the Manager in the investment decision-making process (including with respect to futures, fixed-price offerings and over-the-counter transactions). Such research or other services may include, to the extent permitted by law, research reports on companies, industries and securities; economic and financial data; financial publications; proxy analysis; trade industry seminars; computer data bases; quotation equipment and services; and research-oriented computer hardware, software and other services and products. Research or other services obtained in this manner may be used in servicing any or all of the Funds and other BlackRock client accounts, including in connection with BlackRock client accounts other than those that pay commissions to the broker relating to the research or other service arrangements. Such products and services may disproportionately benefit other BlackRock client accounts relative to the Funds based on the amount of brokerage commissions paid by the Funds and such other BlackRock client accounts. For example, research or other services that are paid for through one client’s commissions may not be used in managing that client’s account. In addition, other BlackRock client accounts may receive the benefit, including disproportionate benefits, of economies of scale or price discounts in connection with products and services that may be provided to the Funds and to such other BlackRock client accounts. To the extent that the Manager uses soft dollars, it will not have to pay for those products and services itself. The Manager may receive research that is bundled with the trade execution, clearing, and/or settlement services provided by a particular broker-dealer. To the extent that the Manager receives research on this basis, many of the same conflicts related to traditional soft dollars may exist. For example, the research effectively will be paid by client commissions that also will be used to pay for the execution, clearing, and settlement services provided by the broker-dealer and will not be paid by the Manager.

The Manager may utilize certain electronic crossing networks (“ECNs”) in executing client securities transactions for certain types of securities. These ECNs may charge fees for their services, including access fees and transaction fees. The transaction fees, which are similar to commissions or markups/markdowns, will generally be charged to clients and, like commissions and markups/markdowns, would generally be included in the cost of the securities purchased. Access fees may be paid by the Manager even though incurred in connection with executing transactions on behalf of clients, including the Funds. In certain circumstances, ECNs may offer volume discounts that will reduce the access fees typically paid by the Manager. This would have the effect of reducing the access fees paid by the Manager. The Manager will only utilize ECNs consistent with its obligation to seek to obtain best execution in client transactions.

The Manager may endeavor to execute trades through brokers who, pursuant to such arrangements, provide research or other services in order to ensure the continued receipt of research or other services the Manager believes are useful in their investment decision-making process. The Manager may from time to time choose not to engage in the above described arrangements to varying degrees.

BlackRock has adopted policies and procedures designed to prevent conflicts of interest from influencing proxy voting decisions that it makes on behalf of advisory clients, including the Funds, and to help ensure that such decisions are made in accordance with BlackRock’s fiduciary obligations to its clients. Nevertheless, notwithstanding such proxy voting policies and procedures, actual proxy voting decisions of BlackRock may have

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the effect of favoring the interests of other clients or businesses of other divisions or units of BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch and/or other Affiliates, provided that BlackRock believes such voting decisions to be in accordance with its fiduciary obligations. For a more detailed discussion of these policies and procedures, see “Proxy Voting Policies and Procedures.”

It is also possible that, from time to time, BlackRock or any of its affiliates may, although they are not required to, purchase and hold shares of a Fund. Increasing a Fund’s assets may enhance investment flexibility and diversification and may contribute to economies of scale that tend to reduce the Fund’s expense ratio. BlackRock and its affiliates reserve the right to redeem at any time some or all of the shares of a Fund acquired for their own accounts. A large redemption of shares of a Fund by BlackRock or its affiliates could significantly reduce the asset size of the Fund, which might have an adverse effect on the Fund’s investment flexibility, portfolio diversification and expense ratio. BlackRock will consider the effect of redemptions on a Fund and other shareholders in deciding whether to redeem its shares.

It is possible that a Fund may invest in securities of companies with which an Affiliate has or is trying to develop investment banking relationships as well as securities of entities in which BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch or another Affiliate has significant debt or equity investments or in which an Affiliate makes a market. A Fund also may invest in securities of companies to which an Affiliate provides or may some day provide research coverage. Such investments could cause conflicts between the interests of a Fund and the interests of other clients of BlackRock or another Affiliate. In making investment decisions for a Fund, the Manager is not permitted to obtain or use material non-public information acquired by any division, department or Affiliate of BlackRock in the course of these activities. In addition, from time to time, the activities of Merrill Lynch or another Affiliate may limit a Fund’s flexibility in purchases and sales of securities. When Merrill Lynch or another Affiliate is engaged in an underwriting or other distribution of securities of an entity, the Manager may be prohibited from purchasing or recommending the purchase of certain securities of that entity for a Fund.

BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch, other Affiliates, their personnel and other financial service providers have interests in promoting sales of the Funds. With respect to BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch, other Affiliates and their personnel, the remuneration and profitability relating to services to and sales of the Funds or other products may be greater than remuneration and profitability relating to services to and sales of certain funds or other products that might be provided or offered. BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch, other Affiliates and their sales personnel may directly or indirectly receive a portion of the fees and commissions charged to the Funds or their shareholders. BlackRock and its advisory or other personnel may also benefit from increased amounts of assets under management. Fees and commissions may also be higher than for other products or services, and the remuneration and profitability to BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch, other Affiliates and such personnel resulting from transactions on behalf of or management of the Funds may be greater than the remuneration and profitability resulting from other funds or products.

BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch, other Affiliates and their personnel may receive greater compensation or greater profit in connection with an account for which BlackRock serves as an adviser than with an account advised by an unaffiliated investment adviser. Differentials in compensation may be related to the fact that BlackRock may pay a portion of its advisory fee to its Affiliate, or relate to compensation arrangements, including for portfolio management, brokerage transactions or account servicing. Any differential in compensation may create a financial incentive on the part of BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch, other Affiliates and their personnel to recommend BlackRock over unaffiliated investment advisers or to effect transactions differently in one account over another.

BlackRock, PNC, Merrill Lynch or their Affiliates may provide valuation assistance to certain clients with respect to certain securities or other investments and the valuation recommendations made for their clients’ accounts may differ from the valuations for the same securities or investments assigned by a Fund’s pricing vendors, especially if such valuations are based on broker-dealer quotes or other data sources unavailable to the Fund’s pricing vendors. While BlackRock will generally communicate its valuation information or determinations to a Fund’s pricing vendors, there may be instances where the Fund’s pricing vendors assign a different valuation to a security or other investment than the valuation for such security or investment determined or recommended by BlackRock.

BlackRock may also have relationships with, and purchase, or distribute or sell, services or products from or to, distributors, consultants and others who recommend the Funds, or who engage in transactions with or for the Funds.

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For example, BlackRock may participate in industry and consultant sponsored conferences and may purchase educational, data related or other services from consultants or other third parties that it deems to be of value to its personnel and its business. The products and services purchased from consultants may include, but are not limited to, those that help BlackRock understand the consultant’s points of view on the investment management process. Consultants and other parties that provide consulting or other services to potential investors in the Funds may receive fees from BlackRock or the Funds in connection with the distribution of shares in the Funds or other BlackRock products. For example, BlackRock may enter into revenue or fee sharing arrangements with consultants, service providers, and other intermediaries relating to investments in mutual funds, collective trusts, or other products or services offered or managed by the Manager. BlackRock may also pay a fee for membership in industry-wide or state and municipal organizations or otherwise help sponsor conferences and educational forums for investment industry participants including, but not limited to, trustees, fiduciaries, consultants, administrators, state and municipal personnel and other clients. BlackRock’s membership in such organizations allows BlackRock to participate in these conferences and educational forums and helps BlackRock interact with conference participants and to develop an understanding of the points of view and challenges of the conference participants. In addition, BlackRock’s personnel, including employees of BlackRock, may have board, advisory, brokerage or other relationships with issuers, distributors, consultants and others that may have investments in the Funds or that may recommend investments in the Funds. In addition, BlackRock, including the Manager, may make charitable contributions to institutions, including those that have relationships with clients or personnel of clients. BlackRock’s personnel may also make political contributions. As a result of the relationships and arrangements described in this paragraph, consultants, distributors and other parties may have conflicts associated with their promotion of the Funds or other dealings with the Funds that create incentives for them to promote the Funds or certain portfolio transactions.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, BlackRock may make payments to authorized dealers and other financial intermediaries (“Intermediaries”) from time to time to promote the Funds and/or other BlackRock products. In addition to placement fees, sales loads or similar distribution charges, such payments may be made out of BlackRock’s assets, or amounts payable to BlackRock rather than a separately identified charge to the Funds or other products. Such payments may compensate Intermediaries for, among other things: marketing the Funds and other products; access to the Intermediaries’ registered representatives or salespersons, including at conferences and other meetings; assistance in training and education of personnel; marketing support; and/or other specified services intended to assist in the distribution and marketing of the Funds and other products. The payments may also, to the extent permitted by applicable regulations, contribute to various non-cash and cash incentive arrangements to promote certain products, as well as sponsor various educational programs, sales contests and/or promotions. The additional payments by BlackRock may also compensate Intermediaries for sub-accounting, administrative and/or shareholder processing services that are in addition to the fees paid for these services by such products. See also, “Purchase of Shares – Other Compensation to Selling Dealers” in this Statement of Additional Information.

The payments made by BlackRock may be different for different Intermediaries. The presence of these payments and the basis on which an Intermediary compensates its registered representatives or salespersons may create an incentive for a particular Intermediary, registered representative or salesperson to highlight, feature or recommend certain products based, at least in part, on the level of compensation paid.

To the extent permitted by applicable law, a Fund may invest all or some of its short term cash investments in any money market fund or similarly managed fund advised or managed by BlackRock. In connection with any such investments, a Fund, to the extent permitted by the Investment Company Act, may pay its share of expenses of a money market fund in which it invests, which may result in a Fund bearing some additional expenses.

The Manager, its affiliates and their directors, officers and employees, may buy and sell securities or other investments for their own accounts, and may have conflicts of interest with respect to investments made on behalf of a Fund. As a result of differing trading and investment strategies or constraints, positions may be taken by directors, officers, employees and affiliates of the Manager that are the same, different from or made at different times than positions taken for the Fund. To lessen the possibility that a Fund will be adversely affected by this personal trading, the Fund and the Manager each has adopted a Code of Ethics in compliance with Section 17(j) of the Investment Company Act that restricts securities trading in the personal accounts of investment professionals and others who normally come into possession of information regarding the Fund’s portfolio transactions. The Code of Ethics can be reviewed and copied at the Commission’s Public Reference Room in Washington, D.C. Information on the

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operation of the Public Reference Room may be obtained by calling the Commission at (202) 551-8090. The Code of Ethics is also available on the EDGAR Database on the Commission’s Internet site at http://www.sec.gov, and copies may be obtained, after paying a duplicating fee, by e-mail at publicinfo@sec.gov or by writing the Commission’s Public Reference Section, Washington, DC 20549-0102.

The Manager and its affiliates will not purchase securities or other property from, or sell securities or other property to, a Fund, except that the Fund may in accordance with rules adopted under the Investment Company Act engage in transactions with accounts that are affiliated with the Fund as a result of common officers, directors, or investment advisers or pursuant to exemptive orders granted to the Funds and/or the Manager by the Commission. These transactions would be effected in circumstances in which the Manager determined that it would be appropriate for the Fund to purchase and another client to sell, or the Fund to sell and another client to purchase, the same security or instrument on the same day.

From time to time, the activities of a Fund may be restricted because of regulatory requirements applicable to BlackRock, PNC or Merrill Lynch or another Affiliate and/or BlackRock’s internal policies designed to comply with, limit the applicability of, or otherwise relate to such requirements. A client not advised by BlackRock would not be subject to some of those considerations. There may be periods when the Manager may not initiate or recommend certain types of transactions, or may otherwise restrict or limit their advice in certain securities or instruments issued by or related to companies for which an Affiliate is performing investment banking, market making or other services or has proprietary positions. For example, when an Affiliate is engaged in an underwriting or other distribution of securities of, or advisory services for, a company, the Funds may be prohibited from or limited in purchasing or selling securities of that company. Similar situations could arise if personnel of BlackRock or its Affiliates serve as directors of companies the securities of which the Funds wish to purchase or sell. However, if permitted by applicable law, the Funds may purchase securities or instruments that are issued by such companies or are the subject of an underwriting, distribution, or advisory assignment by an Affiliate, or in cases in which personnel of BlackRock or its Affiliates are directors or officers of the issuer.

The investment activities of one or more Affiliates for their proprietary accounts and for client accounts may also limit the investment strategies and rights of the Funds. For example, in regulated industries, in certain emerging or international markets, in corporate and regulatory ownership definitions, and in certain futures and derivative transactions, there may be limits on the aggregate amount of investment by affiliated investors that may not be exceeded without the grant of a license or other regulatory or corporate consent or, if exceeded, may cause BlackRock, the Funds or other client accounts to suffer disadvantages or business restrictions. If certain aggregate ownership thresholds are reached or certain transactions undertaken, the ability of the Manager on behalf of clients (including the Funds) to purchase or dispose of investments, or exercise rights or undertake business transactions, may be restricted by regulation or otherwise impaired. As a result, the Manager on behalf of clients (including the Funds) may limit purchases, sell existing investments, or otherwise restrict or limit the exercise of rights (including voting rights) when the Manager, in its sole discretion, deems it appropriate.

A Fund’s custody arrangements could give rise to a potential conflict of interest with the Manager where the Manager has agreed to waive fees and/or reimburse ordinary operating expenses in order to cap a Fund’s expenses. This is because a Fund’s custody arrangements may provide for a reduction in custody fees as a result, for example, of a Fund’s leaving cash balances uninvested. When a Fund’s actual operating expense ratio exceeds a stated cap, a reduction in custody fees reduces the amount of waivers and/or reimbursements the Manager would be required to make to the Fund. This could be viewed as having the potential to provide the Manager with an incentive to keep high positive cash balances for Funds with expense caps in order to offset custody fees that the Manager might otherwise reimburse. However, the Manager’s portfolio managers do not intentionally keep uninvested balances high, but rather make investment decisions that they anticipate will be beneficial to Fund performance.

Present and future activities of BlackRock and its Affiliates, including the Manager, in addition to those described in this section, may give rise to additional conflicts of interest.

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PURCHASE OF SHARES

Each Fund offers its shares without a sales charge at a price equal to the net asset value next determined after a purchase order becomes effective. Each Fund attempts to maintain a net asset value per share of $1.00. Share purchase orders are effective on the date Federal Funds become available to a Fund. If Federal Funds are available to a Fund prior to the determination of net asset value on any business day, the order will be effective on that day. Shares purchased will begin accruing dividends on the day following the date of purchase. Federal Funds are a commercial bank’s deposits in a Federal Reserve Bank and can be transferred from one member bank’s account to that of another member bank on the same day and thus are considered to be immediately available funds. Any order may be rejected by a Fund or the Distributor.

Shareholder Services

Each Fund offers a number of shareholder services described below that are designed to facilitate investment in shares of the Fund. Full details as to each of such services and copies of the various plans and instructions as to how to participate in the various services or plans, or how to change options with respect thereto, can be obtained from each Fund, by calling the telephone number on the cover page to Part I of your Fund’s Statement of Additional Information, or from the Distributor.

The types of shareholder service programs offered to Ready Assets Trust shareholders include: Investment Account; Fee-Based Programs; Automatic Investment Plan; Accrued Monthly Payout Plan; Systematic Withdrawal Plan; and Retirement and Education Savings Plans.

Purchase of Shares by all Investors other than Cash Management Account^® (“CMA”) service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account program) Subscribers, Working Capital Management Account^® (“WCMA”) service (or other Merrill Lynch business account program) Subscribers and Shareholders of Retirement Reserves

The minimum initial purchase is $5,000 and the minimum subsequent purchase is $1,000, except that lower minimums apply in the case of purchases made under certain retirement plans. Each Fund may, at its discretion, establish reduced minimum initial and subsequent purchase requirements with respect to various types of accounts. For pension, profit sharing, individual retirement and certain other retirement plans, including self-directed retirement plans for which Merrill Lynch acts as passive custodian and the various retirement plans available from the Distributor, the minimum initial purchase is $100 and the minimum subsequent purchase is $1. The minimum initial or subsequent purchase requirements may be waived for certain employer-sponsored retirement or savings plans, such as tax-qualified retirement plans within the meaning of Section 401(a) of the Code, deferred compensation plans within the meaning of Section 403(b) and Section 457 of the Code, other deferred compensation arrangements, Voluntary Employee Benefits Association plans, and non-qualified After Tax Savings and Investment programs, maintained on the Merrill Lynch Group Employee Services system. For accounts advised by banks and registered investment advisers, the minimum initial purchase is $300 and the minimum subsequent purchase is $100.

If you are not a CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account program) subscriber, you may purchase shares of a CMA Fund directly through the Transfer Agent in the manner described below under “Methods of Payment—Payment to the Transfer Agent.” Shareholders of the CMA Funds who do not subscribe to the CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account program) will not pay the applicable program fee, and will not receive any of the services available to program subscribers such as the card/check account or automatic investment of free cash balances.

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Methods of Payment

Payment Through Securities Dealers. You may purchase shares of a Fund through securities dealers, including Merrill Lynch, who have entered into selected dealer agreements with the Distributor. In such a case, the dealer will transmit payment to the Fund on your behalf and will supply the Fund with the required account information. Generally, purchase orders placed through Merrill Lynch will be made effective on the day the order is placed. Merrill Lynch has an order procedure pursuant to which you can have the proceeds from the sale of listed securities invested in shares of a Fund on the day you receive the proceeds in your Merrill Lynch securities accounts. If you have a free cash balance (i.e., immediately available funds) in securities accounts of Merrill Lynch, your funds will not be invested in a Fund until the day after the order is placed with Merrill Lynch. Shareholders of the CMA Funds not subscribing to the CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account program) can purchase shares of a CMA fund only through the Transfer Agent.

Payment by Wire. If you maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you may invest in a Fund through wire transmittal of Federal Funds to the Transfer Agent. A Fund will not be responsible for delays in the wiring system. Payment should be wired to Bank of America, 1401 Elm Street, Dallas, Texas 75202. You should give your financial institution the following wiring instructions: ABA #026009593 Merrill Lynch Money Markets, DDA #375624069. The wire should identify the name of the Fund, and should include your name and account number. Failure to submit the required information may delay investment. We urge you to make payment by wire in Federal Funds. If you do not maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you should contact your Financial Advisor.

Payment to the Transfer Agent. Payment made by check may be submitted directly by mail or otherwise to the Transfer Agent. Purchase orders by mail should be sent to Financial Data Services, Inc., P.O. Box 45290, Jacksonville, Florida 32232-5290. Purchase orders sent by hand should be delivered to Financial Data Services, Inc., 4800 Deer Lake Drive East, Jacksonville, Florida 32246-6484. If you are opening a new account, you must enclose a completed Purchase Application. If you are an existing shareholder, you should enclose the detachable stub from a monthly account statement. Checks should be made payable to the Distributor. Certified checks are not necessary, but checks are accepted subject to collection at full face value in U.S. funds and must be drawn in U.S. dollars on a U.S. bank. Payments for the accounts of corporations, foundations and other organizations may not be made by third party checks. Since there is a three day settlement period applicable to the sale of most securities, delays may occur when an investor is liquidating other investments for investment in one of the Funds.

Purchases of Shares of U.S.A. Government Reserves Through Merrill Lynch Plans

Shares of U.S.A. Government Reserves are also offered to participants in certain retirement plans for which Merrill Lynch acts as custodian (“Custodial Plans”). Shares of the Fund are no longer available for purchase in an individual retirement account (“IRA”), individual retirement rollover account (“IRRA^®”), Roth individual retirement account (“Roth IRA”), simplified employee pension plan (“SEP”), simple retirement account (“SRA”) and Coverdell Education Savings Accounts (“ESAs”) (formerly known as “Education IRAs”) established after December 6, 1999. Accounts opened prior to December 6, 1999 may continue to purchase shares as set forth below. Accounts for the Retirement Selector Account (“RSA”) or the Basic^SM Plans may continue to purchase shares of the Fund, regardless of the date the account was established. Information concerning the establishment and maintenance of Custodial Plans and investments by Custodial Plan accounts is contained in the Custodial Plan documents available from Merrill Lynch.

Special purchase procedures apply in the case of the Custodial Plans. The minimum initial purchase for participants in Custodial Plans is $100, and the minimum subsequent purchase is $1. In addition, participants in certain of the Custodial Plans may elect to have cash balances in their Custodial Plan account automatically invested in the Fund.

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Cash balances of participants who elect to have funds automatically invested in U.S.A. Government Reserves will be invested as follows: Cash balances arising from the sale of securities held in the Custodial Plan account that do not settle on the day of the transaction (such as most common and preferred stock transactions) become available to the Fund and will be invested in shares of the Fund on the business day following the day that proceeds with respect thereto are received in the Custodial Plan account. Proceeds giving rise to cash balances from the sale of securities held in the Custodial Plan account settling on a same day basis and from principal repayments on debt securities held in the account become available to the Fund and will be invested in shares of the Fund on the next business day following receipt. Cash balances arising from dividends or interest payments on securities held in the Custodial Plan account or from a contribution to the Custodial Plan are invested in shares of the Fund on the business day following the date the payment is received in the Custodial Plan account.

If you do not elect to have cash balances automatically invested in shares of U.S.A. Government Reserves you may enter a purchase order through your Financial Advisor or service representative.

Purchase of Shares by CMA Service Subscribers

Merrill Lynch Programs. Shares of the CMA Funds are offered to participants in the CMA service, to participants in certain other Merrill Lynch central asset account programs and to individual investors maintaining accounts directly with the Funds’ Transfer Agent. If you participate in the CMA service, you generally will have free cash balances invested in shares of the Fund you designated as the primary investment account (“Money Account”) as described below. The primary Money Account for CMA is the Merrill Lynch Bank Deposit Program (described below). Certain clients may qualify to choose the CMA Tax-Exempt or CMA State Funds as their primary Money Account.

You may also elect to have free cash balances invested in individual deposit accounts pursuant to the Insured Savings Account or in one or more bank deposit accounts at Merrill Lynch Bank USA and/or Merrill Lynch Bank & Trust Co., FSB (the “Merrill Lynch Bank Deposit Program”), Merrill Lynch’s affiliated FDIC insured depository institution. For more information about these alternatives, you should contact your Financial Advisor.

If you subscribe to the CMA service, you have the option to change the designation of your Money Account at any time by notifying your Financial Advisor. At that time, you may instruct your Financial Advisor to redeem shares of a Fund designated as the Money Account and to transfer the proceeds to the newly designated Money Account. Each CMA Fund has reserved the right to suspend or otherwise limit sales of its shares if, as a result of difficulties in obtaining portfolio securities, it is determined that it is not in the interests of the CMA Fund’s shareholders to issue additional shares. If sales of shares of the CMA Tax-Exempt are suspended and you have designated this Fund as your Money Account, you may designate one of the CMA State Funds (if available) as the Money Account and vice versa. Alternatively, you may designate the Merrill Lynch Bank Deposit Program as your Money Account. Pending such an election, Merrill Lynch will consider various alternatives with respect to automatic investments for such accounts, including the investment of free cash balances in such accounts in an account at the Merrill Lynch Banking Advantage Program.

Automatic Purchases (CMA Tax-Exempt and CMA State Funds): Where offered, free cash balances in a program account are automatically invested in shares of the Fund designated as your Money Account not later than the first business day of each week on which the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) or New York banks are open, which normally will be Monday. Free cash balances from the following transactions will be invested automatically prior to the automatic weekly sweeps on the next business day following receipt of the proceeds: (i) proceeds from the sale of securities that do not settle on the day of the transaction (such as most common and preferred stock transactions) and from principal repayments on debt securities, (ii) from the sale of securities settling on a same day basis; and (iii) free cash balances of $1,000 or more arising from cash deposits into a subscriber’s account, dividend and interest payments or any other source unless such balance results from a cash deposit made after the cashiering deadline of the Merrill Lynch office in which the deposit is made. In that case, the resulting free cash balances are invested on the second following business day. If you wish to make a cash deposit, you should contact your Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor for information concerning the local office’s cashiering deadline. Free cash balances of less than $1,000 are invested in shares in the automatic weekly sweep.

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(All CMA Funds except for CMA Tax-Exempt Funds): In limited circumstances, free cash balances in certain Merrill Lynch central asset account programs may be swept into CMA Money; however, generally new cash balances in program accounts will be swept automatically into one or more bank deposit accounts established through the Merrill Lynch Bank Deposit Program chosen by the participant as his or her Money Account. Debits in CMA accounts will be paid from balances in CMA Money, CMA Government Securities and CMA Treasury until those balances are depleted. Free cash balances in CMA accounts electing the tax-exempt sweep options will continue to be swept into one of the CMA Tax-Exempt Funds.

Manual Purchases (All CMA Funds): If you subscribe to the CMA service, you may make manual investments of $1,000 or more through your Financial Advisor at any time in shares of a CMA Fund not selected as your Money Account. Manual purchases take effect on the day following the day the order is placed by Merrill Lynch with the Fund, except that orders involving cash deposits made on the date of a manual purchase take effect on the second business day thereafter, if they are placed with the Fund after the cashiering deadline of the Merrill Lynch office in which the deposit is made. As a result, if you enter manual purchase orders that include cash deposits made on that day after the cashiering deadline, you will not receive the daily dividend which you would have received had your order been entered prior to the deadline. In addition, manual purchases of $500,000 or more can be made effective on the same day the order is placed with Merrill Lynch provided that requirements as to timely notification and transfer of a Federal Funds wire in the proper amount are met. If you desire further information on this method of purchasing shares, you should contact your Financial Advisor.

All purchases of Fund shares and dividend reinvestments will be confirmed to CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account program) subscribers (rounded to the nearest share) in the monthly transaction statement provided by Merrill Lynch.

Working Capital Management Account^®. The Working Capital Management Account^® (“WCMA”) financial service (“WCMA service”) for corporations and other businesses provides participants a securities account (which includes all the features of a regular CMA account) plus optional lines of credit and other features. The WCMA service has sweep features and annual participation fees different from those of a CMA account. A brochure describing the WCMA service as well as information concerning charges for participation in the program is available from Merrill Lynch.

Participants in the WCMA service are able to manually invest funds in certain designated CMA Funds. Checks and other funds transmitted to a WCMA service account generally will be applied in the following order: (i) to the payment of pending securities transactions or other charges in the participant’s securities account, (ii) to reduce outstanding balances in the lines of credit available through such program and (iii) to purchase shares of the designated CMA Fund. To the extent not otherwise applied, funds transmitted by Federal Funds wire or an automated clearinghouse service will be invested in shares of the designated CMA Fund on the business day following receipt of such funds by Merrill Lynch. Funds received in a WCMA service account from the sale of securities will be invested in the designated CMA Fund as described above. The amount received in a WCMA service account prior to the cashiering deadline of the Merrill Lynch office in which the deposit is made will be invested on the second business day following Merrill Lynch’s receipt of the check. Redemptions of CMA Fund shares will be effected as described below under “Redemption of Shares — Redemption of Shares by CMA Service Subscribers — Automatic Redemptions” to satisfy debit balances, such as those created by purchases of securities or by checks written against a bank providing checking services to WCMA service subscribers. WCMA service subscribers that have a line of credit will, however, be permitted to maintain a minimum CMA Fund balance. For subscribers who elect to maintain such a balance, debits from check use will be satisfied through the line of credit so that such balance is maintained. However, if the full amount of available credit is not sufficient to satisfy the debit, it will be satisfied from the minimum balance.

From time to time, Merrill Lynch also may offer certain CMA Funds to participants in other Merrill Lynch-sponsored programs. Some or all of the features of the CMA service may not be available in such programs and program participation and other fees may be higher. You can obtain more information on the services and fees associated with such programs by contacting your Financial Advisor.

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Purchase of Shares of WCMA Funds by WCMA Service Subscribers

Eligibility. Shares of the WCMA Funds are offered to certain subscribers in the WCMA service and in certain other Merrill Lynch business account programs. WCMA service or other business account program subscribers generally will have available cash balances invested in the Fund designated by the subscriber as the primary investment account (the “Primary Money Account”). A subscriber also may elect to manually invest cash balances into certain other money market funds or individual money market accounts pursuant to the Insured Savings Account^SM.

The WCMA service and certain other Merrill Lynch business account programs have sweep features and annual participation fees different from those of a CMA account.

Purchases of shares of a WCMA Fund designated as the Primary Money Account will be made pursuant to the automatic or manual purchase procedures described below.

WCMA Tax-Exempt has reserved the right to suspend or otherwise limit sales of its shares if, as a result of difficulties in obtaining portfolio securities, it is determined that it is not in the interests of the Fund’s shareholders to issue additional shares. If sales of shares of WCMA Tax-Exempt are suspended, a shareholder who has designated such Fund as its Primary Money Account will be permitted to designate another eligible money fund (if available) as the primary account.

Subscribers in the WCMA service or other business account program have the option to change the designation of their Primary Money Account at any time by notifying their Merrill Lynch financial advisor. At that time, a subscriber may instruct its Financial Advisor to redeem shares of a WCMA Fund designated as the Primary Money Account and to transfer the proceeds to the share class that the subscriber is eligible to own in the newly-designated Primary Money Account.

Automatic Purchases. The delay with respect to the automatic investment of cash balances in a subscriber’s account in shares of the Fund designated as the subscriber’s Primary Money Account is determined by the subscriber’s WCMA service or other business account program tier assignment. For further information regarding the timing of sweeps for each tier, a subscriber should consult with its Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor or the relevant service account agreement and program description.

Manual Purchases. Subscribers in the WCMA service or other business account program may make manual investments of $1,000 or more at any time in shares of a WCMA Fund not selected as that investor’s Primary Money Account. Manual purchases shall be effective on the day following the day the order is placed with Merrill Lynch, except that orders involving cash deposits made on the date of a manual purchase shall become effective on the second business day thereafter if they are placed after the cashiering deadline of the Merrill Lynch office in which the deposit is made. As a result, WCMA service or other business account program subscribers who enter manual purchase orders that include cash deposits made on that day after such cashiering deadline will not receive the daily dividend which would have been received had their orders been entered prior to the deadline. In addition, manual purchases of $1,000,000 or more can be made effective on the same day the order is placed with Merrill Lynch provided that requirements as to timely notification and transfer of a Federal Funds wire in the proper amount are met. A WCMA service or other business account program subscriber desiring further information on this method of purchasing shares should contact its Merrill Lynch financial Advisor.

All purchases of the WCMA Funds’ shares and dividend reinvestments will be confirmed to WCMA service or other business account program subscribers (rounded to the nearest share) in the monthly transaction statement.

WCMA Multiple Class Structure. Each WCMA Fund offers four share classes, each with its own ongoing fees, expenses and other features. A subscriber must be eligible to own a particular class of shares. Reference is made to “Your Account — WCMA Multiple Class Structure” in the Prospectus for certain information with respect to the eligibility requirements to own Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 and Class 4 shares of each WCMA Fund.

Each Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 or Class 4 share of a WCMA Fund represents an identical interest in that Fund and has the same rights, except that each class of shares bears to a different degree the expenses of the service fees and

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distribution fees and the additional incremental transfer agency costs resulting from the conversion of shares. See “Your Account — WCMA Multiple Class Structure” in the Prospectus. The distribution fees and service fees that are imposed on each class of shares, are imposed directly against that class and not against all assets of the WCMA Fund and, accordingly, the differing fee rate for each class does not affect the net asset value or have any impact on any other class of shares. Dividends paid by a WCMA Fund for each class of shares are calculated in the same manner at the same time and differ only to the extent that service fees and distribution fees and any incremental transfer agency costs relating to a particular class are borne exclusively by that class. Each class may be subject to monthly automatic conversions. See “Your Account — WCMA Multiple Class Structure” in the Prospectus.

WCMA subscribers should understand the purpose and function of different fee rates with respect to each class, which is to provide for the financing of the distribution of each class of shares of the WCMA Funds. Class 4 shares bear the lowest service and distribution fees because larger accounts cost less to service and distribute and those economies are passed on to the subscriber. Class 1 shares bear the highest service and distribution fees because smaller accounts cost more to service and distribute and there are fewer economies to pass on to the subscriber. The distribution-related revenues paid with respect to a class will not be used to finance the distribution expenditures of another class. Sales personnel may receive different compensation for selling different classes of shares.

Purchase of Shares of Retirement Reserves

Purchases of Retirement Reserves shares by pension, profit-sharing and annuity plans are made by the trustee or sponsor of such plan by payments directly to Merrill Lynch.

Retirement Reserves offers two classes of shares, Class I and Class II shares. Each Class I and Class II share of the Fund represents an identical interest in the investment portfolio of the Fund, except that Class II shares bear the expenses of the ongoing distribution fees.

Class I shares of Retirement Reserves are offered to certain Custodial Plans with an active custodial retirement account as of September 30, 1998, any Custodial Plan purchasing shares of the Fund through a Merrill Lynch fee-based program, certain independent pension, profit-sharing, annuity and other qualified plans, and qualified tuition programs established under Section 529 of the Code (collectively, the “Plans”).

Class II shares are offered to any Plan that did not have an active custodial retirement account as of September 30, 1998 and does not otherwise qualify to purchase Class I shares.

There are nine types of Custodial Plans: (1) a traditional IRA, (2) a Roth IRA, (3) an IRRA^®, (4) a SEP, (5) an SRA, (6) a Basic^SM (Keogh Plus) profit sharing plan and (7) a Basic^SM (Keogh Plus) money purchase pension plan (together with the profit sharing plan, the “Basic^SM Plans”), (8) a 403(b)(7) RSA, and (9) the education account. Although the amount that may be contributed to a Plan account in any one year is subject to certain limitations, assets already in a Plan account may be invested in the Fund without regard to such limitations.

If you are considering transferring a tax-deferred retirement account such as an IRA from Merrill Lynch to another securities dealer or other financial intermediary, you should be aware that if the firm will not take delivery of shares of Retirement Reserves, you must either redeem the shares so that the cash proceeds can be transferred to the account at the new firm, or you must continue to maintain a retirement account at Merrill Lynch for those shares.

Plan Investments. If you are a Plan participant, an investment in shares of Retirement Reserves can be made as follows:

If participants elect to have their contributions invested in the Fund, the contributions will be invested automatically on the business day following the date they are received in the account. There will be no minimum initial or subsequent purchase requirement pursuant to these types of plans. The amount that may be contributed to a Plan in any one year is subject to certain limitations under the Code; however, assets already in a Plan account may be invested without regard to such limitations on contributions. Cash balances of less than $1.00 will not be invested.

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Participants in Custodial Plans who opened their accounts prior to December 6, 1999 had two options concerning cash balances that may arise in their accounts. First, participants could have elected to have such balances automatically invested on a daily basis in shares of the Fund or, in some cases, in another money market mutual fund advised by the Manager. Second, participants (except for RSAs) could have elected to have such balances deposited in an FDIC-insured money market account with one or more commercial banks. After December 6, 1999, certain Custodial Plan accounts no longer have the first option for cash balances.

Participants who have elected to have cash balances automatically invested in the Fund will have such funds invested as follows: cash balances arising from the sale of securities held in the Plan account that do not settle on the day of the transaction (such as most common and preferred stock transactions) will be invested in shares of the Fund on the business day following the day that the proceeds are received in the Plan account. Proceeds giving rise to cash balances from the sale of securities held in the Plan account settling on a same day basis and from principal repayments on debt securities held in the account will be invested in shares of the Fund on the next business day following receipt. Cash balances arising from dividends or interest payments on securities held in the Plan account or from a contribution to the Plan are invested in shares of the Fund on the business day following the date the payment is received in the Plan account.

All purchases and redemptions of Fund shares and dividend reinvestments are confirmed (rounded to the nearest share) to participants in Plans in the monthly or quarterly statement sent to all participants in these Plans. The Fund and the Distributor have received an exemptive order from the Commission that permits the Fund to omit sending out more frequent confirmations with respect to certain transactions. These transactions include purchases resulting from automatic investments in shares of the Fund and redemptions that are effected automatically to purchase other securities that the participant has selected for investment in his account. Shareholders who are not participants in the Plans receive quarterly statements reflecting all purchases, redemptions and dividend reinvestments of Fund shares.

You should read materials concerning the Plans, including copies of the Plans and the forms necessary to establish a Plan account, which are available from Merrill Lynch. You should read such materials carefully before establishing a Plan account and should consult with your attorney or tax adviser to determine if any of the Plans are suited to your needs and circumstances. The laws applicable to the Plans, including the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), and the Code, are complex and include a variety of transitional rules, which may be applicable to some investors. These laws should be reviewed by your attorney to determine their applicability. You are further advised that the tax treatment of the Plans under applicable state law may vary.

Distribution Plans

Each Fund has adopted a shareholder servicing plan and/or a distribution plan (with respect to Class II shares, in the case of Retirement Reserves) (each, a “Distribution Plan”) in compliance with Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act. Each Fund other than Retirement Reserves and the WCMA Funds is authorized to pay the Distributor a fee at an annual rate based on the average daily net asset value of Fund accounts maintained through the Distributor. Retirement Reserves pays the Distributor a fee at an annual rate based on the average daily net assets attributable to Class II shares maintained through the Distributor. The Distribution Plan for each class of shares of the WCMA Funds provides that the Funds pay the Distributor a service fee relating to the shares of the relevant class, accrued daily and paid monthly, at an annual rate based on the average daily net assets of a WCMA Fund attributable to Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 and Class 4 shares. The service fee is not compensation for the administrative and operational services rendered to shareholders by affiliates of the Manager that are covered by any other agreement between each Fund and the Manager. Each class has exclusive voting rights with respect to the Distribution Plan adopted with respect to such class pursuant to which service and/or distribution fees are paid. The fee paid by each Fund other than Retirement Reserves and the WCMA Funds compensates the Distributor for providing, or arranging for the provision of, shareholder servicing and sales and promotional activities and services with respect to shares of each Fund. The Distributor then determines, based on a number of criteria, how to allocate such fee among financial advisors, selected dealers and affiliates of the Distributor. The fee paid by Retirement Reserves compensates the Distributor for the expenses associated with marketing activities and services related to Class II shares. The WCMA Distribution Plans for each of the Class 1, Class 2, Class 3 and Class 4 shares each provide that a Fund also pays the Distributor a distribution fee based on the average daily net assets of the Fund attributable to the shares of the relevant class. These fees are set forth in the WCMA Fund Prospectus.

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Each Fund’s Distribution Plans are subject to the provisions of Rule 12b-1 under the Investment Company Act. In their consideration of a Distribution Plan, the Trustees must consider all factors they deem relevant, including information as to the benefits of the Distribution Plan to the Fund and the related class of shareholders. In approving a Distribution Plan in accordance with Rule 12b-1, the non-interested Trustees concluded that there is reasonable likelihood that the Distribution Plan will benefit the Fund and its related class of shareholders.

Each Distribution Plan provides that, so long as the Distribution Plan remains in effect, the non-interested Trustees then in office will select and nominate other non-interested Trustees. Each Distribution Plan can be terminated at any time, without penalty, by the vote of a majority of the non-interested Trustees or by the vote of the holders of a majority of the outstanding related class of voting securities of a Fund. A Distribution Plan cannot be amended to increase materially the amount to be spent by the Fund without the approval of the related class of shareholders. All material amendments are required to be approved by the vote of Trustees, including a majority of the non-interested Trustees who have no direct or indirect financial interest in the Distribution Plan, cast in person at a meeting called for that purpose. Rule 12b-1 further requires that each Fund preserve copies of each Distribution Plan and any report made pursuant to such plan for a period of not less than six years from the date of the Distribution Plan or such report, the first two years of which should be stored in an easily accessible place.

Among other things, each Distribution Plan provides that the Trustees will review quarterly reports of the shareholder servicing and/or distribution expenditures paid to the Distributor. With respect to each Fund other than Retirement Reserves, in the event that the aggregate payments received by the Distributor under the Distribution Plan in any year exceeds the amount of the distribution and shareholder servicing expenditures incurred by the Distributor, the Distributor is required to reimburse the Fund the amount of such excess. With respect to Retirement Reserves, payments under the Class II Distribution Plan are based on a percentage of average daily net assets attributable to Class II shares, regardless of the amount of expenses incurred. As a result, the distribution related revenues from the Distribution Plan with respect to Retirement Reserves may be more or less than distribution related expenses of the Class II shares. Information with respect to the distribution-related revenues and expenses is presented to the Trustees for their consideration on a quarterly basis. Distribution-related expenses consist of financial advisor compensation, branch office and regional operation center selling and transaction processing expenses, advertising, sales promotion and marketing expenses and interest expense. With respect to Retirement Reserves, the distribution-related revenues paid with respect to one class will not be used to finance the distribution expenditures of another class. Sales personnel may receive different compensation for selling different classes of shares.

See Part 1, Section V “Distribution Related Expenses” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for information relating to the fees paid by your Fund to the Distributor under each Distribution Plan during the Fund’s most recent fiscal year.

Limitations on the Payment of Asset Based Sales Charges. The maximum sales charge rule in the Conduct Rules of the NASD imposes a limitation on certain asset-based sales charges such as the distribution fee borne by each class of shares in the case of the WCMA Funds, and Class II shares in the case of Retirement Reserves. The maximum sales charge rule limits the aggregate of distribution fee payments payable by a Fund to (i) 7.25% of eligible gross sales of the applicable shares (excluding shares issued pursuant to dividend reinvestments and exchanges), plus (ii) interest on the unpaid balance for the applicable shares at the prime rate plus 1% (the unpaid balance being the maximum amount payable minus amounts received from the payment of the distribution fee).

In the case of the WCMA Funds, the Distributor has voluntarily agreed to waive interest charges on the unpaid balance in excess of 0.50% of eligible gross sales. Consequently, the maximum amount payable to the Distributor (referred to as the “voluntary maximum”) is 7.75% of eligible gross sales. The Distributor retains the right to stop waiving the interest charges at any time. To the extent payments would exceed the voluntary maximum, a WCMA Fund will not make further payments of the distribution fee with respect to its shares; however, a WCMA Fund will continue to make payments of the service fee. In certain circumstances the amount payable pursuant to the voluntary maximum may exceed the amount payable under the NASD formula. In such circumstances, payment in excess of the amount payable under the NASD formula will not be made.

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Other Compensation to Selling Dealers

Pursuant to each Fund’s Distribution Plans, each Fund may pay the Distributor and/or BlackRock or any other affiliate of BlackRock fees for distribution and sales support services. In addition, each Fund may pay to brokers, dealers, financial institutions and industry professionals (including BlackRock, Merrill Lynch and their affiliates) (collectively, “Service Organizations”) fees for the provision of personal services to shareholders. From time to time the Distributor and/or BlackRock and their affiliates may voluntarily waive receipt of distribution fees under the Plans, which waivers may be terminated at any time.

The Plans permit the Distributor, BlackRock and their affiliates to make payments relating to distribution and sales support activities out of their past profits or other sources available to them (and not as an additional charge to a Fund). From time to time, the Distributor, BlackRock or their affiliates may compensate affiliated and unaffiliated Service Organizations for the sale and distribution of shares of a Fund or for services to a Fund and its shareholders. These non-Plan payments would be in addition to the Fund payments described in this Statement of Additional Information for distribution. These non-Plan payments may take the form of, among other things, “due diligence” payments for a dealer’s examination of a Fund and payments for providing extra employee training and information relating to a Fund; “listing” fees for the placement of the Funds on a dealer’s list of mutual funds available for purchase by its customers; “finders” or “referral” fees for directing investors to a Fund; “marketing support” fees for providing assistance in promoting the sale of the Fund shares; payments for the sale of shares and/or the maintenance of share balances; CUSIP fees; maintenance fees; and set-up fees regarding the establishment of new accounts. The payments made by the Distributor, BlackRock and their affiliates may be a fixed dollar amount or may be based on a percentage of the value of shares sold to, or held by, customers of the Service Organization involved, and may be different for different Service Organizations. The payments described above are made from the Distributor’s, BlackRock’s or their affiliates’ own assets pursuant to agreements with Service Organizations and do not change the price paid by investors for the purchase of a Fund’s shares or the amount a Fund will receive as proceeds from such sales.

The payments described above may be made, at the discretion of the Distributor, BlackRock or their affiliates, to Service Organizations in connection with the sale and distribution of Fund shares. Pursuant to applicable Financial Industry Regulatory Authority regulations, the details of certain of these payments, including the Service Organizations receiving such payments in connection with the sale and distribution of Fund shares, are required to be disclosed. As of the date of this Statement of Additional Information, as amended or supplemented from time to time, the following Service Organizations are receiving such payments: Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, UBS, Morgan Stanley, Linsco/Private Ledger, Wachovia Securities, Raymond James & Associates, Inc., Raymond James Financial Services, Inc., AXA Advisors, LLC, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., MetLife Securities, Inc., Walnut Street Securities Inc., New England Securities Corporation, Tower Square Securities Inc. and Banc of America Investment Services, Inc. The level of payments made to these Service Organizations in any year will vary.

In lieu of payments pursuant to the foregoing, the Distributor, BlackRock, PNC Global Investment Servicing (U.S.) Inc. (formerly PFPC Inc.) or their affiliates may make payments to the above-named Service Organizations of an agreed-upon amount that will not exceed the amount that would have been payable pursuant to the above, and may also make similar payments to other Service Organizations.

If investment advisers, distributors or affiliates of mutual funds pay bonuses and incentives in differing amounts, financial firms and their financial consultants may have financial incentives for recommending a particular mutual fund over other mutual funds. In addition, depending on the arrangements in place at any particular time, a financial firm and its financial consultants may also have a financial incentive for recommending a particular share class over other share classes. You should consult your financial adviser and review carefully any disclosure by the financial firm as to compensation received by your financial adviser for more information about the payments described above.

Furthermore, the Distributor, BlackRock and their affiliates may contribute to various non-cash and cash incentive arrangements to promote the sale of shares, and may sponsor various contests and promotions subject to applicable FINRA regulations in which participants may receive prizes such as travel awards, merchandise and cash. Subject to applicable FINRA regulations, the Distributor, BlackRock and their affiliates may also (i) pay for the travel expenses, meals, lodging and entertainment of broker/dealers, financial institutions and their salespersons in connection with educational and sales promotional programs, (ii) sponsor speakers, educational seminars and charitable events and (iii) provide other sales and marketing conferences and other resources to broker-dealers, financial institutions and their salespersons.

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BlackRock, Inc., the parent company of BlackRock, has agreed to pay PNC Bank, National Association and PNC Bank, Delaware (including Wealth Management, Hawthorn and Institutional Investment Group) fees for administration and servicing with respect to assets of a Fund attributable to shares held by customers of such entities. These assets are predominantly in the share class of a Fund, with respect to which the Fund does not pay shareholder servicing fees under a Plan.

Service Organizations may charge their clients additional fees for account-related services. Service Organizations may charge their customers a service fee in connection with the purchase or redemption of Fund shares. The amount and applicability of such a fee is determined and disclosed to its customers by each individual Service Organization. Service fees typically are fixed, nominal dollar amounts and are in addition to the sales and other charges described in the Prospectuses and this Statement of Additional Information. Your Service Organization will provide you with specific information about any service fees you will be charged.

Pursuant to the Plans, each Fund may enter into service arrangements with Service Organizations pursuant to which Service Organizations will render certain support services to their customers (“Customers”) who are the beneficial owners of shares of each Fund. Such services will be provided to Customers who are the beneficial owners of such shares and are intended to supplement the services provided by a Fund’s Manager, Administrator and/or transfer agent to the Fund’s shareholders of record. In consideration for payment of a service fee on shares owned beneficially by their Customers, Service Organizations may provide general shareholder liaison services, including, but not limited to (i) answering customer inquiries regarding account status and history, the manner in which purchases, exchanges and redemptions of shares may be effected and certain other matters pertaining to the Customers’ investments; and (ii) assisting Customers in designating and changing dividend options, account designations and addresses. To the extent a shareholder is not associated with a Service Organization, the shareholder servicing fees will be paid to BlackRock, and BlackRock will provide services.

In addition to, rather than in lieu of, distribution fees that a Fund may pay to a Service Organization pursuant to the Plans and fees the Fund pays to its transfer agent, a Fund may enter into non-Plan agreements with Service Organizations pursuant to which the Fund will pay a Service Organization for administrative, networking, recordkeeping, sub-transfer agency and shareholder services. These non-Plan payments are generally based on either (i) a percentage of the average daily net assets of Fund shareholders serviced by a Service Organization or (ii) a fixed dollar amount for each account serviced by a Service Organization. The aggregate amount of these payments may be substantial. From time to time, BlackRock, the Distributor or their affiliates also may pay a portion of the fees for administrative, networking, recordkeeping, sub-transfer agency and shareholder services described above at its or their own expense and out of its or their legitimate profits.

REDEMPTION OF SHARES

Each Fund will normally redeem shares for cash upon receipt of a request in proper form, although each Fund retains the right to redeem some or all of its shares in-kind under unusual circumstances, in order to protect the interests of remaining shareholders, or to accommodate a request by a particular shareholder that does not adversely affect the interest of the remaining shareholders, by delivery of securities selected from the Fund’s assets at its discretion. In-kind payment means payment will be made in portfolio securities rather than cash. If this occurs, the redeeming shareholder might incur brokerage or other transaction costs to convert the securities to cash. Each Fund has elected, to be governed by Rule 18f-1 under the 1940 Act so that the Fund is obligated to redeem its shares solely in cash up to the lesser of $250,000 or 1% of its net asset value during any 90-day period for any shareholder of the Fund. The redemption price is the net asset value per share next determined after the initial receipt of proper notice of redemption.

If notice is received by the Transfer Agent or Merrill Lynch, as applicable, prior to the determination of net asset value on that day, the redemption will be effective on such day. If the notice is received after the determination of net asset value has been made, the redemption will be effective on the next business day and payment will be made on the second business day after receipt of the notice.

Redemption of Shares by All Funds except the CMA Funds and the WCMA Funds

At various times, a Fund may be requested to redeem shares, in manual or automatic redemptions, with respect to which good payment has not yet been received by Merrill Lynch. A Fund may delay for up to 10 days the payment of redemption proceeds until good payment (that is, cash, Federal Funds or certified check drawn on a U.S. bank) has been collected for the purchase of Fund shares. In addition, each Fund reserves the right not to honor redemption checks or requests for Federal Funds redemptions where the shares to be redeemed have been purchased by check within 10 days prior to the date the redemption request is received by the Transfer Agent.

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The right to redeem shares may be suspended for seven days only (i) for any period during which trading on the NYSE is restricted as determined by the Commission or during which the NYSE is closed (other than customary weekend and holiday closings), (ii) for any period during which an emergency exists, as defined by the Commission, as a result of which disposal of portfolio securities or determination of the net asset value of the Fund is not reasonably practicable, or (iii) for such other periods as the Commission may by order permit for the protection of shareholders of the Fund.

Methods of Redemption

All five methods set forth below apply to each Fund other than Retirement Reserves. Only the methods described under “Redemption by Check,” “Regular Redemption” and “Automatic Redemption” also apply to Retirement Reserves. In certain instances, the Transfer Agent may require additional documents in connection with redemptions.

Redemption by Check. You may redeem shares by check in an amount not less than $500. At your request, the Transfer Agent will provide you with checks drawn on the custody account. These checks can be made payable to the order of any person; however, these checks may not be used to purchase securities in transactions with Merrill Lynch. The payee of the check may cash or deposit it like any check drawn on a bank. When such a check is presented to the Transfer Agent for payment, the Transfer Agent will present the check to the Fund as authority to redeem a sufficient number of full and fractional shares in your account to cover the amount of the check. This enables you to continue earning daily dividends until the day prior to the day the check is cleared. Canceled checks will be returned to you by the Transfer Agent upon request.

You will be subject to the Transfer Agent’s rules and regulations governing such checking accounts, including the right of the Transfer Agent not to honor checks in amounts exceeding the value of your account at the time the check is presented for payment. A Fund or the Transfer Agent may modify or terminate the check redemption privilege at any time on 30 days’ notice. In order to be eligible for the privilege, you should check the box under the caption “Check Redemption Privilege” in the Purchase Application. The Transfer Agent will then send you checks. Retirement Reserves does not accept new applications for check writing privileges.

Federal Funds Redemption. If you maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you may also arrange to have redemption proceeds of $5,000 or more wired in Federal Funds to a pre-designated bank account. In order to be eligible for Federal Funds redemption, you must designate on your Purchase Application the domestic commercial bank and account number to receive the proceeds of your redemption and must have your signature on the Purchase Application guaranteed. The request for Federal Funds redemption may be made by telephone, wire or letter (no signature guarantee required) to the Transfer Agent. If your request is received before the determination of net asset value of a Fund on any business day, the redemption proceeds will be wired to your pre-designated bank account on the next business day. You may request Federal Funds redemptions by calling the Transfer Agent toll-free at 1-800-441-7762. Each Fund will employ reasonable procedures to confirm that telephone instructions are genuine to prevent any losses from fraudulent or unauthorized instructions. Among other things, redemption proceeds may only be wired into the bank account designated on the Purchase Application. You must independently verify this information at the time the redemption request is made. If you do not maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you should contact your financial advisor.

Repurchase Through Securities Dealers. Each Fund will repurchase shares through securities dealers. A Fund normally will accept orders to repurchase shares by wire or telephone from dealers for customers at the net asset value next computed after receipt of the order from the dealer, provided that the request is received from the dealer prior to the determination of net asset value of the Fund, on any business day. These repurchase arrangements are for your convenience and do not involve a charge by the Fund; however, dealers may impose a charge for transmitting the notice of repurchase to a Fund. Each Fund reserves the right to reject any order for repurchase through a securities dealer, but it may not reject properly submitted requests for redemption as described below. A Fund will promptly notify you of any rejection of a repurchase with respect to your shares. If you effect a repurchase through your securities dealer, payment will be made by the Transfer Agent to the dealer.

Regular Redemption. If you hold shares with the Transfer Agent you may redeem by writing to the Transfer Agent, Financial Data Services, Inc., P.O. Box 45290, Jacksonville, Florida 32232-5290. Redemption requests that are sent

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by mail should be delivered to Financial Data Services, Inc., 4800 Deer Lake Drive East, Jacksonville, Florida 32246-6484. Redemption requests should not be sent to the Fund. A redemption request requires the signatures of all persons in whose name(s) the shares are registered, signed exactly as such name(s) appear on the Transfer Agent’s register. The signature(s) on the redemption request may require a guarantee by an “eligible guarantor institution” as defined in Rule 17Ad-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “1934 Act”) whose existence and validity may be verified by the Transfer Agent through the use of industry publications. In the event a signature guarantee is required, notarized signatures are not sufficient. In general, signature guarantees are waived on redemptions of less than $50,000 as long as the following requirements are met: (i) the request contains the signature(s) of all persons in whose name(s) shares are recorded on the Transfer Agent’s register; (ii) the check is mailed to the stencil address of record on the Transfer Agent’s register and (iii) the stencil address has not changed within 30 days. Certain rules may apply regarding certain types of accounts, including, but not limited to, UGMA/UTMA accounts, Joint Tenancies with Rights of Survivorship, contra broker transactions, and institutional accounts. In certain instances, the Transfer Agent may require additional documents such as, but not limited to, trust instruments, death certificates, appointments as executor or administrator, or certificates of corporate authority. Payments will be mailed within seven days of receipt by the Transfer Agent of a proper redemption request.

You may also redeem shares held with the Transfer Agent by calling 1-800-441-7762. You must be the shareholder of record and the request must be for an amount less than $50,000. Before telephone requests will be honored, signature approval from all shareholders of record on the account must be obtained. The shares being redeemed must have been held for at least 15 days. Telephone redemption requests will not be honored if: (i) the account holder is deceased, (ii) the proceeds are to be sent to someone other than the shareholder of record, (iii) funds are to be wired to the client’s bank account, (iv) a Systematic Withdrawal Plan is in effect, (v) the request is by an individual other than the account holder of record, (vi) the account is held by joint tenants who are divorced, (vii) the address on the account has changed within the last 30 days or share certificates have been issued on the account or (viii) to protect against fraud, if the caller is unable to provide the account number, the name and address registered on the account and the social security number registered on the account. The Funds or the Transfer Agent may temporarily suspend telephone transactions at any time.

Shareholders of Retirement Reserves and participants in Custodial Plans that invest in U.S.A. Government Reserves may redeem shares by writing directly to Merrill Lynch. Shareholders of Retirement Reserves and participants in Custodial Plans that invest in U.S.A. Government Reserves should not send redemption requests to the Fund or to its Transfer Agent. If you inadvertently send the redemption request to the Fund or the Transfer Agent, the request will be forwarded to Merrill Lynch. The notice must bear the signature of the person in whose name the Plan is maintained, signed exactly as his or her name appears on the Plan adoption agreement.

Automatic Redemption. Merrill Lynch has instituted an automatic redemption procedure, which applies to you if you maintain a securities account with Merrill Lynch. This procedure, which does not apply to margin accounts, may be used by Merrill Lynch to satisfy amounts you owe to Merrill Lynch or one of its affiliates as a result of account fees and expenses or as a result of purchases of securities or other transactions in your securities account. Under this procedure, unless you notify Merrill Lynch to the contrary, your Merrill Lynch securities account will be scanned each business day prior to the determination of net asset value of the Fund. After application of any cash balances in the account, a sufficient number of Fund shares may be redeemed at net asset value, as determined that day, to satisfy any amounts you owe to Merrill Lynch or one of its affiliates. Redemptions will be effected on the business day preceding the date you are obligated to make such payment, and Merrill Lynch or its affiliate will receive the redemption proceeds on the day following the redemption date. You will receive all dividends declared and reinvested through the date of redemption.

Unless otherwise requested, if you request transactions that settle on a “same-day” basis (such as Federal Funds wire redemptions, branch office checks, transfers to other Merrill Lynch accounts and certain securities transactions) the Fund shares necessary to effect such transactions will be deemed to have been transferred to Merrill Lynch prior to the Fund’s declaration of dividends on that day. In such instances, you will receive all dividends declared and reinvested through the date immediately preceding the date of redemption.

If your account held directly with the Transfer Agent contains a fractional share balance, such fractional share balance will be automatically redeemed by a Fund.

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Because of the high cost of maintaining smaller accounts, a Fund may redeem shares in your account if the net asset value of your account falls below $500 due to redemptions you have made. You will be notified that the value of your account is less than $500 before the Fund makes an involuntary redemption. You will then have 60 days to make an additional investment to bring the value of your account to at least $500 before the Fund takes any action. This involuntary redemption does not apply to retirement plans or Uniform Gifts or Transfers to Minors Act accounts.

U.S.A. Government Reserves has instituted an automatic redemption procedure for participants in the Custodial Plans who have elected to have cash balances in their accounts automatically invested in shares of the Fund. In the case of such participants, unless directed otherwise, Merrill Lynch will redeem a sufficient number of shares of the Fund to purchase other securities (such as common stocks) that the participant has selected for investment in his or her Custodial Plan account.

CMA Funds - Redemption of Shares by CMA Service Subscribers

CMA Funds - Automatic Redemptions. Redemptions will be effected automatically by Merrill Lynch to satisfy debit balances in the CMA service or other Merrill Lynch central asset account program, or the WCMA service created by securities transaction activity within the account or to satisfy debit balances created by card purchases, cash advances or checks. Each account will be scanned automatically for debits each business day prior to 12:00 noon, Eastern time. After applying any free cash balances in the account to such debits, shares of the designated Fund will be redeemed at net asset value at the 12:00 noon pricing, and funds deposited pursuant to a bank deposit program will be withdrawn, to the extent necessary to satisfy any remaining debits in the account. Automatic redemptions or withdrawals will be made first from your Money Account. Unless otherwise requested, when you request a transaction that settles on a “same-day” basis (such as Federal funds wire redemptions, branch office checks, transfers to other Merrill Lynch accounts and certain securities transactions) the Fund shares necessary to effect such a transaction will be deemed to have been transferred to Merrill Lynch prior to the Fund’s declaration of dividends on that day. In such instances, you will receive all dividends declared and reinvested through the date immediately preceding the date of redemption. Margin loans through the Margin Lending Program will be used to satisfy debits remaining after the liquidation of all funds invested in or deposited through the Money Account CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account). Shares of the CMA Funds may not be purchased, nor may deposits be made pursuant to a bank deposit program until all debits and margin loans in the account are satisfied.

Shares of each CMA Fund also may be automatically redeemed to satisfy debits or make investments in connection with special features offered to CMA service or other Merrill Lynch central asset account program subscribers. For more information regarding these features, you should consult the relevant program disclosure.

CMA Funds - Manual Redemptions. If you are a CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account) subscriber or if you hold shares of a CMA Fund in a Merrill Lynch securities account, you may redeem shares of a CMA Fund directly by writing to Merrill Lynch, which will submit your request to the Transfer Agent. Cash proceeds from the manual redemption of Fund shares ordinarily will be mailed to you at your address of record or, on request, mailed or wired (if $10,000 or more) to your bank account. Redemption requests should not be sent to a Fund or the Transfer Agent. If you inadvertently send the request to a Fund or the Transfer Agent, the request will be forwarded to Merrill Lynch. The signature requirements of the redemption request are described above under “Redemption of Shares — Redemptions of Shares by All Funds except the CMA Funds and the WCMA Funds — Regular Redemption.” CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account) subscribers desiring to effect manual redemptions should contact their Financial Advisors. All redemptions of Fund shares will be confirmed to service subscribers in the monthly transaction statement.

WCMA Funds - Redemption of Shares by WCMA Service Subscribers

WCMA Funds - Automatic Redemptions. Redemptions will be effected automatically by Merrill Lynch to satisfy debit balances in a WCMA service or other business account program account created by securities transactions therein or to satisfy debit balances created by credit card purchases, cash advances (which may be obtained through participating banks and automated teller machines) or checks written against the credit card account or electronic fund transfers or other debits. Each WCMA service or other business account program account will be scanned automatically for debits each business day prior to 12 noon, Eastern time. After application of any free cash

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balances in the account to such debits, shares of the designated WCMA Fund will be redeemed at net asset value at the 12 noon pricing, and funds deposited pursuant to the Insured Savings Account will be withdrawn, to the extent necessary to satisfy any remaining debits in the account. Automatic redemptions or withdrawals will be made first from the subscriber’s Primary Money Account and then, to the extent necessary, from accounts not designated as the Primary Money Account. Unless otherwise requested, in those instances where shareholders request transactions that settle on a “same-day” basis (such as Federal funds wire redemptions, branch office checks, transfers to other Merrill Lynch accounts and certain securities transactions) the Fund shares necessary to effect such transactions will be deemed to have been transferred to Merrill Lynch prior to the Fund’s declaration of dividends on that day. In such instances, shareholders will receive all dividends declared and reinvested through the date immediately preceding the date of redemption. Unless otherwise requested by the subscriber, redemptions or withdrawals from non-Primary Money Accounts will be made in the order the non-Primary Money Accounts were established; thus, redemptions or withdrawals will first be made from the non-Primary Money Account that the subscriber first established. Margin loans through the Margin Lending Program service will be used to satisfy debits remaining after the liquidation of all funds invested in or deposited through non-Primary Money Accounts, and shares of the WCMA Funds may not be purchased, nor may deposits be made pursuant to the Insured Savings Account, until all debits and margin loans in the account are satisfied.

Shares of the WCMA Funds also may be automatically redeemed to satisfy debits or make investments in connection with special features offered to service subscribers. The redemption of shares of the WCMA Funds also may be modified for investors that participate in certain fee-based programs. For more information regarding these features, a WCMA service subscriber should consult the Business Investor Account^SM(BIA^SM) Financial Service and Working Capital Management Account ^® (WCMA^®) Financial Service Account Agreement Program Description Booklet.

From time to time, Merrill Lynch also may offer the WCMA Funds to subscribers in certain other programs sponsored by Merrill Lynch. Some or all of the features of the WCMA service may not be available in such programs and program participation and other fees may be higher. More information on the services and fees associated with such other programs is set forth in the Program Description Booklet that is furnished in connection with such other programs, which may be obtained by contacting a Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor.

WCMA Funds - Manual Redemptions. Merrill Lynch will satisfy requests for cash by wiring cash to the shareholder’s bank account or arranging for the shareholder’s Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor to provide the shareholder with a check. Redemption requests should not be sent to the WCMA Fund or its Transfer Agent. If inadvertently sent to the WCMA Fund or the Transfer Agent, redemption requests will be forwarded to Merrill Lynch. Any required shareholder signature(s) must be guaranteed by an “eligible guarantor institution” as such is defined in Rule 17Ad-15 under the 1934 Act, the existence and validity of which may be verified by the Transfer Agent through the use of industry publications. Notarized signatures are not sufficient. In certain instances, additional documents such as, but not limited to, trust instruments, death certificates, appointments as executor or administrator, or certificates of corporate authority may be required. Subscribers in the WCMA service or other business account program desiring to effect manual redemptions should contact their Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor.

All redemptions of WCMA Fund shares will be confirmed to WCMA service subscribers (rounded to the nearest share) in the monthly transaction statement.

CMA Funds - Redemption of Shares by Non-Service Subscribers

Shareholders who are not CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account) subscribers may redeem shares of a CMA Fund held in a Merrill Lynch securities account directly as described above under “Redemption of Shares — Redemption of Shares by Service Subscribers — Manual Redemptions.”

Shareholders maintaining an account directly with the Transfer Agent, who are not CMA service (or other Merrill Lynch central asset account) subscribers, may redeem shares of a CMA Fund by submitting a written notice by mail directly to the Transfer Agent, Financial Data Services, Inc., P.O. Box 45290, Jacksonville, Florida 32232-5290.

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Redemption requests that are sent by hand should be delivered to Financial Data Services, Inc., 4800 Deer Lake Drive East, Jacksonville, Florida 32246-6484. Cash proceeds from the manual redemption of Fund shares will be mailed to the shareholder at his or her address of record. Redemption requests should not be sent to a Fund or Merrill Lynch. If inadvertently sent to a Fund or Merrill Lynch such redemption requests will be forwarded to the Transfer Agent. The notice requires the signatures of all persons in whose names the shares are registered, signed exactly as their names appear on their monthly statement. The signature(s) on the redemption request must be guaranteed by an “eligible guarantor institution” as such is defined in Rule 17Ad-15 under the 1934 Act, the existence and validity of which may be verified by the Transfer Agent through the use of industry publications. Notarized signatures are not sufficient. In certain instances, additional documents such as, but not limited to, trust instruments, death certificates, appointments as executor or administrator, or certificates of corporate authority may be required.

The right to receive payment with respect to any redemption of Fund shares may be suspended by each Fund for a period of up to seven days. Suspensions of more than seven days may not be made except (1) for any period (A) during which the NYSE is closed other than customary weekend and holiday closings or (B) during which trading on the NYSE is restricted; (2) for any period during which an emergency exists as a result of which (A) disposal by the Fund of securities owned by it is not reasonably practicable or (B) it is not reasonably practicable for the Fund fairly to determine the value of its net assets; or (3) for such other periods as the Commission may by order permit for the protection of shareholders of the Fund. The Commission shall by rules and regulations determine the conditions under which (i) trading shall be deemed to be restricted and (ii) an emergency shall be deemed to exist within the meaning of clause (2) above.

The value of a Fund’s shares at the time of redemption may be more or less than the shareholder’s cost, depending on the market value of the securities held by the Fund at such time.

Participants in the WCMA service or certain other business account programs may be able to manually invest funds in certain CMA Funds. Checks and other funds transmitted to a WCMA service or other business account program account generally will be applied first to the payment of pending securities transactions or other charges in the participant’s securities account, second to reduce outstanding balances in the lines of credit available through such program and, third, to purchase shares of the designated Fund. To the extent not otherwise applied, funds transmitted by Federal Funds wire or an automated clearinghouse service will be invested in shares of the designated Fund on the business day following receipt of such funds by Merrill Lynch. Funds received in a WCMA service or other business account program account from the sale of securities will be invested in the designated Fund as described above. The amount payable on a check received in a WCMA service or other business account program account prior to the cashiering deadline referred to above will be invested on the second business day following receipt of the check by Merrill Lynch. Redemptions of Fund shares will be effected as described above to satisfy debit balances, such as those created by purchases of securities or by checks written against a bank providing checking services to WCMA service or other business account program subscribers. Service subscribers that have a line of credit will, however, be permitted to maintain a minimum Fund balance; for subscribers who elect to maintain such a balance, debits from check usage will be satisfied through the line of credit so that such balance is maintained. However, if the full amount of available credit is not sufficient to satisfy the debit, it will be satisfied from the minimum balance.

From time to time, Merrill Lynch also may offer the Funds to participants in certain other programs sponsored by Merrill Lynch. Some or all of the features of the CMA service may not be available in such programs and program participation and other fees may be higher. More information on the services and fees associated with such programs, is set forth in the relevant program disclosures, which may be obtained by contacting a Merrill Lynch Financial Advisor.

SHAREHOLDER SERVICES

Shareholder Services for All Funds other than CMA Funds, WCMA Funds and Retirement Reserves

Each Fund offers one or more of the shareholder services described below that are designed to facilitate investment in its shares. Certain of these services are available only to U.S. investors. You can obtain more information about these services from each Fund by calling the telephone number on the cover page, or from the Distributor.

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Investment Account

If your account is maintained at the Transfer Agent (an “Investment Account”) you will receive a monthly report showing the activity in your account for the month. You may make additions to your Investment Account at any time by purchasing shares at the applicable public offering price either through your securities dealer, by wire or by mail directly to the Transfer Agent. You may ascertain the number of shares in your Investment Account by calling the Transfer Agent toll-free at 1-800-441-7762. The Transfer Agent will furnish this information only after you have specified the name, address, account number and social security number of the registered owner or owners. You may also maintain an account through Merrill Lynch. If you transfer shares out of a Merrill Lynch brokerage account, an Investment Account in your name may be opened at the Transfer Agent. If you are considering transferring a tax-deferred retirement account such as an IRA from Merrill Lynch to another brokerage firm or financial institution you should be aware that if the firm to which the retirement account is to be transferred will not take delivery of shares of a Fund, you must either redeem the shares so that the cash proceeds can be transferred to the account at the new firm, or you must continue to maintain a retirement account at Merrill Lynch for those shares.

In the interest of economy and convenience and because of the operating procedures of each Fund, share certificates will not be issued physically. Shares are maintained by each Fund on its register maintained by the Transfer Agent and the holders thereof will have the same rights and ownership with respect to such shares as if certificates had been issued.

Fee-Based Programs

Fund shares may be held in certain fee-based programs offered by the Manager or its affiliates, including pricing alternatives for securities transactions (each referred to in this paragraph as a “Program”). These Programs generally prohibit such shares from being transferred to another account at Merrill Lynch, to another broker-dealer or to the Transfer Agent. Except in limited circumstances, such shares must be redeemed and new shares purchased in order for the investment not to be subject to Program fees. Additional information regarding a specific Program (including charges and limitations on transferability applicable to shares that may be held in such Program) is available in such Program’s client agreement and from the Transfer Agent at 1-800-441-7762.

Automatic Investment Plans

If you maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, each Fund offers an Automatic Investment Plan whereby the Transfer Agent is authorized through preauthorized checks of $50 or more to charge your regular bank account on a regular basis to provide systematic additions to the Investment Account. Your Automatic Investment Plan may be terminated at any time without charge or penalty by you, the Fund, the Transfer Agent or the Distributor. If you do not maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you should contact your Financial Advisor.

Accrued Monthly Payout Plan

The dividends paid by each Fund are generally reinvested automatically in additional shares. If you maintain an account at the Transfer Agent and desire cash payments, you may enroll in the Accrued Monthly Payout Plan. Under this plan, shares equal in number to shares credited through the automatic reinvestment of dividends during each month are redeemed at net asset value on the last Friday of such month in order to meet the monthly distribution (provided that, in the event that a payment on an account maintained with the Transfer Agent would be $10.00 or less, the payment will be automatically reinvested in additional shares). You may open an Accrued Monthly Payout Plan by completing the appropriate portion of the Purchase Application. Your Accrued Monthly Payout Plan may be terminated at any time without charge or penalty by you, a Fund, the Transfer Agent or the Distributor. If you do not maintain an account directly with the Transfer Agent, you should contact your Financial Advisor.

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Systematic Withdrawal Plans

If you maintain an account with the Transfer Agent, you may elect to receive systematic withdrawals from your Investment Account by check or through automatic payment by direct deposit to your bank account on either a monthly or quarterly basis as provided below. Quarterly withdrawals are available if you have acquired shares of a Fund that have a value, based on cost or the current offering price, of $5,000 or more, and monthly withdrawals are available if your shares have a value of $10,000 or more.

At the time of each withdrawal payment, sufficient shares are redeemed from your Investment Account to provide the withdrawal payment specified by you, which may be a dollar amount or a percentage of the value of your shares. Redemptions will be made at net asset value as determined as of the close of business on the NYSE on the 24^th day of each month or the 24^th day of the last month of each quarter, whichever is applicable. If the NYSE is not open for business on such date, the shares will be redeemed at the net asset value determined as of the close of business on the NYSE on the following business day. The check for the withdrawal payment will be mailed or the direct deposit will be made, on the next business day following redemption. When you make systematic withdrawals, dividends and distributions on all shares in the Investment Account are reinvested automatically in Fund shares. Your systematic withdrawal plan may be terminated at any time, without charge or penalty, by you, a Fund, the Transfer Agent or the Distributor. You may not elect to make systematic withdrawals while you are enrolled in the Accrued Monthly Payout Plan. A Fund is not responsible for any failure of delivery to the shareholder’s address of record and no interest will accrue on amounts represented by uncashed distribution or redemption checks.

Withdrawal payments should not be considered as dividends. Withdrawals generally are treated as sales of shares and may result in taxable gain or loss. If periodic withdrawals continuously exceed reinvested dividends, the original investment will be reduced correspondingly. You are cautioned not to designate withdrawal programs that result in an undue reduction of principal. There are no minimums on amounts that may be systematically withdrawn. Periodic investments may not be made into an Investment Account in which a shareholder has elected to make systematic withdrawals.

If your account is not maintained directly with the Transfer Agent, you should contact your Financial Advisor. If your account is currently maintained at a branch office, redemptions via the Systematic Withdrawal Plan will be credited directly to your Investment Account. If you wish to receive a redemption by check, you should contact your Financial Advisor.

Retirement and Education Accounts

Individual retirement accounts, Roth IRAs and other retirement plan accounts (together, “retirement accounts”) are available from your financial intermediary. Under these plans, investments may be made in a Fund and certain other mutual funds sponsored by the Manager or its affiliates as well as in other securities. There may be fees associated with investing through these accounts. Information with respect to these accounts is available on request from your financial intermediary.

Dividends received in each of the accounts referred to above are exempt from Federal taxation until distributed from the accounts and, in the case of Roth IRAs and education accounts, may be exempt from taxation when distributed as well. Investors considering participation in any retirement or education account should review specific tax laws relating to the account and should consult their attorneys or tax advisers with respect to the establishment and maintenance of any such account.

DETERMINATION OF NET ASSET VALUE

Each Fund seeks to maintain a net asset value of $1.00 per share for purposes of purchase and redemptions and values its portfolio securities on the basis of the amortized cost method of valuation.

Under this method portfolio securities are valued at cost when purchased and thereafter, a constant proportionate accretion of any discount or amortization of premium is recorded until the maturity of the security. The effect of changes in the market value of a security as a result of fluctuating interest rates is not taken into account.

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As indicated, the amortized cost method of valuation may result in the value of a security being higher or lower than its market price, the price a Fund would receive if the security were sold prior to maturity. Each Fund’s Board has established procedures for the purpose of maintaining a constant net asset value of $1.00 per share for each Fund; however, there can be no assurance that a constant net asset value will be maintained for any Fund. Such procedures include a review of the extent of any deviation of net asset value per share, based on available market quotations, from the $1.00 amortized cost per share. Should that deviation exceed ¹/2 of 1% for a Fund, the Fund’s Board will promptly consider whether any action should be initiated to eliminate or reduce material dilution or other adverse impact to shareholders. Such action may include redeeming shares in kind, selling portfolio securities prior to maturity, reducing or withholding dividends, shortening the average portfolio maturity, reducing the number of outstanding shares without monetary consideration, and utilizing a net asset value per share as determined by using available market quotations.

Each Fund will maintain a dollar-weighted average portfolio maturity of 90 days or less, will not purchase any instrument with a deemed maturity under Rule 2a-7 of the Investment Company Act greater than 397 days, and will limit portfolio investments, including repurchase agreements, to those instruments that the adviser or sub-adviser determines present minimal credit risks pursuant to guidelines adopted by the Fund’s Boards.

YIELD INFORMATION

Each Fund computes its annualized yield in accordance with regulations adopted by the Commission by determining the net changes in value, exclusive of capital changes and income other than investment income, for a seven-day base period for a hypothetical pre-existing account having a balance of one share at the beginning of the base period, subtracting a hypothetical shareholder account charge, and dividing the difference by the value of the account at the beginning of the base period to obtain the base period return, and then multiplying the result by 365 and then dividing by seven. This yield calculation does not take into consideration any realized or unrealized gains or losses on portfolio securities. The Commission also permits the calculation of a standardized effective or compounded yield. This is computed by compounding the unannualized base period return, which is done by adding one to the base period return, raising the sum to a power equal to 365 divided by seven, and subtracting one from the result. This compounded yield calculation also excludes realized and unrealized gains or losses on portfolio securities.

The tax equivalent yield of the shares of each of CMA Tax-Exempt, WCMA Tax-Exempt and the CMA State Funds is computed by dividing that portion of the yield of the Fund (computed as described above) that is tax-exempt by an amount equal to one minus the stated tax rate (normally assumed to be the maximum applicable marginal tax rate) and adding the result to that portion, if any, of the yield of the Fund that is not tax-exempt. The tax equivalent effective yield of the shares of each of CMA Tax-Exempt, WCMA Tax-Exempt and the CMA State Funds is computed in the same manner as the tax equivalent yield, except that the effective yield is substituted for yield in the calculation.

The yield on each Fund’s shares normally will fluctuate on a daily basis. Therefore, the yield for any given past period is not an indication or representation by a Fund of future yields or rates of return on its shares. The yield is affected by such factors as changes in interest rates on a Fund’s portfolio securities, average portfolio maturity, the types and quality of portfolio securities held and operating expenses. The yield on Fund shares for various reasons may not be comparable to the yield on bank deposits, shares of other money market funds or other investments.

See Part I, Section VI “Yield Information” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for recent seven-day yield information relating to your Fund.

On occasion, each Fund may compare its yield to (1) an industry average compiled by Donoghue’s Money Fund Report, a widely recognized independent publication that monitors the performance of money market mutual funds, (2) the average yield reported by the Bank Rate Monitor National Index^TM for money market deposit accounts offered by the 100 leading banks and thrift institutions in the ten largest standard metropolitan statistical areas, (3) yield data published by industry publications, including Lipper Inc., Morningstar, Inc., Money Magazine, U.S. News & World Report, BusinessWeek, CDA Investment Technology, Inc., Forbes Magazine and Fortune Magazine, (4) the yield on an investment in 90-day Treasury bills on a rolling basis, assuming quarterly compounding, or

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(5) historical yield data relating to other central asset accounts similar to the CMA service, in the case of the CMA Funds. As with yield quotations, yield comparisons should not be considered indicative of a Fund’s yield or relative performance for any future period.

A Fund may provide information designed to help investors understand how the Fund is seeking to achieve its investment objective. This may include information about past, current or possible economic, market, political, or other conditions, descriptive information on general principles of investing such as asset allocation, diversification and risk tolerance; a discussion of a Fund’s portfolio composition, investment philosophy, strategy or investment techniques; comparisons of a Fund’s performance or portfolio composition to that of other funds or types of investments, to indices relevant to the comparison being made, or to a hypothetical or model portfolio. Each Fund may also quote various measures of volatility and benchmark correlation in advertising and other materials, and may compare these measures to those of other funds or types of investments.

PORTFOLIO TRANSACTIONS

Subject to policies established by the Board of each Fund, the Manager is primarily responsible for the execution of a Fund’s portfolio transactions. The Manager does not execute transactions through any particular broker or dealer, but seeks to obtain the best net results for the Fund, taking into account such factors as price (including the applicable dealer spread), size of order, difficulty of execution, operational facilities of the firm and the firm’s risk and skill in positioning blocks of securities. While the Manager generally seeks reasonable trade execution costs, a Fund does not necessarily pay the lowest spread or commission available. Each Fund’s policy of investing in securities with short maturities will result in high portfolio turnover.

Subject to obtaining the best net results, dealers who provide supplemental investment research (such as economic data and market forecasts) to the Manager may receive orders for transactions of the Fund. Information received will be in addition to and not in lieu of the services required to be performed by the Manager under each Management Agreement and the expenses of the Manager will not necessarily be reduced as a result of the receipt of such supplemental information.

The portfolio securities in which each Fund invests are traded primarily in the over-the-counter (“OTC”) market. Bonds and debentures usually are traded OTC, but may be traded on an exchange. Where possible, a Fund will deal directly with the dealers who make a market in the securities involved except in those circumstances where better prices and execution are available elsewhere. Such dealers usually are acting as principals for their own accounts. On occasion, securities may be purchased directly from the issuer. Money market securities are generally traded on a net basis and do not normally involve either brokerage commissions or transfer taxes. The cost of executing portfolio securities transactions of a Fund primarily will consist of dealer spreads. Under the Investment Company Act, persons affiliated with a Fund and persons who are affiliated with such affiliated persons are prohibited from dealing with the Fund as principals in the purchase and sale of securities unless an exemptive order allowing such transactions is obtained from the Commission. Since transactions in the OTC market usually involve transactions with the dealers acting as principals for their own accounts, the Funds will not deal with affiliated persons, including Merrill Lynch and its affiliates, in connection with such transactions, except pursuant to the exemptive order described below. However, an affiliated person of a Fund may serve as its broker in OTC transactions conducted on an agency basis.

The Manager does not consider sales of shares of the mutual funds it advises as a factor in the selection of brokers or dealers to execute portfolio transactions for a Fund; however, whether or not a particular broker or dealer sells shares of the mutual funds advised by the Manager neither qualifies nor disqualifies such broker or dealer to execute transactions for those mutual funds.

The Commission has issued an exemptive order permitting each Fund to conduct principal transactions with Merrill Lynch Government Securities, Inc. (“GSI”) in U.S. Government and U.S. Government agency securities, with Merrill Lynch Money Markets, Inc., a subsidiary of GSI (“MMI”) in certificates of deposit and other short-term money market instruments and commercial paper, and with Merrill Lynch in fixed income securities, including medium-term notes, and municipal securities with remaining maturities of one year or less. This order contains a number of conditions, including conditions designed to ensure that the price to each Fund from GSI, MMI or Merrill Lynch is equal to or better than that available from other sources. GSI, MMI and Merrill Lynch have informed each

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Fund that they will in no way, at any time, attempt to influence or control the activities of the Fund or the Manager in placing such principal transactions. The exemptive order allows GSI, MMI or Merrill Lynch to receive a dealer spread on any transaction with a Fund no greater than its customary dealer spread from transactions of the type involved. Generally, such spreads do not exceed 0.25% of the principal amount of the securities involved.

See Part I, Section VIII “Portfolio Transactions” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for information relating to portfolio transactions engaged in by your Fund for its three most recently completed fiscal years or other relevant periods.

The Board of each Fund has considered the possibility of seeking to recapture for the benefit of the Fund expenses of possible portfolio transactions, such as dealer spreads and underwriting commissions, by conducting portfolio transactions through affiliated entities, including GSI, MMI and Merrill Lynch. For example, dealer spreads received by GSI, MMI or Merrill Lynch on transactions conducted pursuant to the exemptive order described above could be offset against the management fee payable by each Fund to the Manager. After considering all factors deemed relevant, the Board of each Fund made a determination not to seek such recapture. The Board of each Fund will reconsider this matter from time to time.

Each Fund has received an exemptive order from the Commission permitting it to lend portfolio securities to Merrill Lynch or its affiliates. Pursuant to that order, each Fund may retain an affiliated entity of the Manager (the “lending agent”) as the securities lending agent for a fee, including a fee based on a share of the returns on investment of cash collateral. The lending agent may, on behalf of a Fund, invest cash collateral received by the Fund for such loans, among other things, in a private investment company managed by the lending agent or in registered money market funds advised by the Manager or its affiliates. See Part I, Section VII “Portfolio Transactions” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for the securities lending agent fees, if any, paid by your Fund to the lending agent for the periods indicated.

Because of different objectives or other factors, a particular security may be bought for one or more funds or clients advised by the Manager or its affiliates (collectively, “clients”) when one or more clients of the Manager or its affiliates are selling the same security. If purchases or sales of securities arise for consideration at or about the same time that would involve a Fund or other clients or funds for which the Manager or an affiliate acts as investment manager, transactions in such securities will be made, insofar as feasible, for the respective funds and clients in a manner deemed equitable to all. To the extent that transactions on behalf of more than one client of the Manager or its affiliates during the same period may increase the demand for securities being purchased or the supply of securities being sold, there may be an adverse effect on price.

DIVIDENDS AND TAXES

Dividends

Each Fund declares dividends daily. Dividends of each Fund are reinvested daily in additional shares of that Fund at net asset value. Shares purchased will begin accruing dividends on the day following the date of purchase. Dividends that are declared but unpaid will remain in the gross assets of each Fund and will therefore continue to earn income for the Fund’s shareholders. Shareholders will receive monthly statements as to such reinvestments. For shareholders of the CMA Funds and the WCMA Funds who request transactions that settle on a “same day” basis (such as Federal Funds wire redemptions, branch office checks, transfers to other Merrill Lynch accounts and certain securities transactions), the Fund shares necessary to effect such transactions will be deemed to have been transferred to Merrill Lynch prior to the Funds’ declaration of dividends on that day.

Net income (from the time of the immediately preceding determination thereof) consists of (i) interest accrued and/or discount earned (including both original issue and market discount), (ii) less amortization of premiums and the estimated expenses of a Fund applicable to that dividend period. Net realized capital gains (including net short-term capital gain), if any, will be distributed by the Funds at least annually.

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Retirement Accounts.

Investment in certain Funds is offered to participants in retirement accounts for which Merrill Lynch acts as custodian, participants in Merrill Lynch Basic Plans and RSAs and certain independent qualified plans. Accordingly, the general description of the tax treatment of RICs and their shareholders as set forth below is qualified for retirement accountholders with respect to the special tax treatment afforded such accounts under the Code. Under the Code, neither ordinary income dividends nor capital gain dividends represent current income to retirement accountholders.

Generally, distributions from a retirement account (other than certain distributions from a Roth IRA) will be taxable as ordinary income at the rate applicable to the participant at the time of the distribution. For most retirement accounts, such distributions would include (i) any pre-tax contributions to the retirement account (including pre-tax contributions that have been rolled over from another IRA or qualified retirement plan), and (ii) earnings (whether such earnings are classified as ordinary income or as capital gains). In addition to Federal income tax, participants may be subject to the imposition of a 10% (or, in the case of certain SRA-IRA distributions, 25%) additional tax on any amount withdrawn from a retirement account prior to the participant’s attainment of age 59¹/2 unless one of the exceptions listed below applies.

Depending on the type of retirement plan, the exceptions to the early withdrawal penalty may include: 1) distributions after the death of the shareholder; 2) distributions attributable to disability; 3) distributions used to pay certain medical expenses; 4) distributions that are part of a scheduled series of substantially equal periodic payments for the life (or life expectancy) of the shareholder or the joint lives (or joint life and last survivor expectancy) of the shareholder and the shareholder’s beneficiary; 5) withdrawals for medical insurance if the shareholder has received unemployment compensation for 12 weeks and the distribution is made in the year such unemployment compensation is received or the following year; 6) distributions to pay qualified higher education expenses of the shareholder or certain family members of the shareholder; and 7) distributions used to buy a first home (subject to a $10,000 lifetime limit).

For Roth IRA participants, distributions, including accumulated earnings on contributions, will not be includable in income if such distribution is made five or more years after the first tax year of contribution and the account holder either is age 59¹/2 or older, has become disabled, is purchasing a first home (subject to the $10,000 lifetime limit) or has died. As with other retirement accounts, a 10% excise tax applies to amounts withdrawn from the Roth IRA prior to reaching age 59¹/2 unless one of the exceptions applies. Such a withdrawal would also be included in income to the extent of earnings on contributions, with distributions treated as made first from contributions and then from earnings.

Under certain limited circumstances (for example, if an individual for whose benefit a retirement account is established engages in any transaction prohibited under Section 4975 of the Code with respect to such account), a retirement account could cease to qualify for the special treatment afforded certain retirement accounts under the Code as of the first day of the taxable year in which the transaction that caused the disqualification occurred. If a retirement account through which a shareholder holds Fund shares becomes ineligible for special tax treatment, the shareholder will be treated as having received a distribution on the first day of such taxable year from the retirement account in an amount equal to the fair market value of all assets in the account. Thus, a shareholder would be taxed currently on the amount of any pre-tax contributions and previously untaxed dividends held within the account, and would be taxed on the ordinary income and capital gain dividends paid by a Fund subsequent to the disqualification event, whether such dividends were received in cash or reinvested in additional shares. These ordinary income and capital gain dividends also might be subject to state and local taxes. In the event of retirement account disqualification, shareholders also could be subject to the early withdrawal excise tax described above. Additionally, retirement account disqualification may subject a nonresident alien shareholder to a 30% United States withholding tax on ordinary income dividends paid by a Fund unless a reduced rate of withholding is provided under applicable treaty law or such dividends are designated as interest-related dividends or short-term capital gain dividends, as described in “Taxes–General Treatment of Fund Shareholders.”

In certain circumstances, account holders also may be able to make nondeductible contributions to their retirement accounts. As described above, ordinary income dividends and capital gain dividends received with respect to such

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contributions will not be taxed currently. Unlike the Roth IRA, described above, earnings with respect to these amounts will be taxed when distributed.

Qualified Tuition Program and ESAs.

Investment in Retirement Reserves is also offered to participants in Qualified Tuition Program accounts and ESAs (together, “education accounts”). The general description of the tax treatment of RICs and their shareholders as set forth below is qualified for education accountholders with respect to the special tax treatment afforded education accounts. Under the Code, neither ordinary income dividends nor capital gain dividends represent current income to shareholders holding shares through an education account.

Distributions from a Qualified Tuition Program account or ESA, including amounts representing earnings on amounts contributed, will not be included in income to the extent they do not exceed the beneficiary’s qualified education expenses, as defined in the Code for purposes of the particular type of account. Education account holders may be subject to a Federal penalty as well as ordinary income tax and any applicable state income tax on the portion of a distribution representing earnings on contributed amounts, if the distribution is not used for qualified education expenses, as defined in the Code for purposes of the particular type of account. Exceptions to the Federal penalty include distributions made on account of the death or disability of the beneficiary of the account and distributions made on account of a scholarship received by the beneficiary, provided the distributions do not exceed the amount of the scholarship. Numerous provisions affecting ESAs are scheduled to expire after December 31, 2010. Unless such provisions are extended, the tax treatment of ESAs and their investors will be significantly altered.

If an education account becomes ineligible for the special tax treatment described above, the shareholder will be taxed currently on amounts representing accumulated earnings on contributions made to the account. Likewise, dividends paid by the Fund subsequently will be currently taxable, whether received in cash or reinvested, and could be subject to state and local taxes. It is possible that the Federal penalty applicable to withdrawals not used for qualified education expenses might also apply. Disqualification of an education account may subject a nonresident alien shareholder to a 30% United States withholding tax on ordinary income dividends paid by a Fund, unless a reduced rate of withholding is provided under applicable treaty law or such dividends are designated as interest-related dividends or short-term capital gain dividends, as described in “Taxes–General Treatment of Fund Shareholders.”

The foregoing is a general and abbreviated summary of the applicable provisions of the Code and Treasury regulations presently in effect, as applied to the particular types of Plans and accounts being described. For the complete provisions, reference should be made to the pertinent Code sections and the Treasury regulations promulgated thereunder. The Code and the Treasury regulations are subject to change by legislative, judicial or administrative action either prospectively or retroactively.

Shareholders are urged to consult their tax advisers regarding specific questions as to Federal, foreign, state or local taxes. Foreign investors should consider applicable foreign taxes in their evaluation of investment in each Fund. Shareholders investing through a retirement account or education account, likewise, should consult a tax advisor with respect to the tax consequences of investing through such an account.

Taxes

Each Fund intends to elect and to qualify or to continue to qualify, as appropriate, for the special tax treatment afforded RICs under the Code. As long as a Fund so qualifies, the Fund (but not its shareholders) will not be subject to Federal income tax on the part of its investment company taxable income and net capital gain that is distributed to shareholders. Each Fund intends to distribute substantially all of such income and gains. If, in any taxable year, a Fund fails to qualify as a RIC under the Code, such Fund would be taxed in the same manner as an ordinary corporation and all distributions from earnings and profits (as determined under U.S. Federal income tax principles) to its shareholders would be taxable as ordinary dividend income eligible for the maximum 15% tax rate for non-corporate shareholders (for taxable years beginning prior to January 1, 2011) and the dividends-received deduction for corporate shareholders. However, distributions from a CMA Tax-Exempt

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Fund or from WCMA Tax-Exempt that are derived from income on tax-exempt obligations, as defined herein, would no longer qualify for treatment as exempt interest.

Each Fund that is a series of a RIC that consists of multiple series is treated as a separate corporation for Federal income tax purposes, and, therefore, is considered to be a separate entity in determining its treatment under the rules for RICs. Losses in one series of a RIC do not offset gains in another, and the requirements (other than certain organizational requirements) for qualifying for RIC status will be determined at the level of the individual series. In the following discussion, the term “Fund” means each individual series, if applicable.

The Code requires a RIC to pay a nondeductible 4% excise tax to the extent the RIC does not distribute, during each calendar year, 98% of its ordinary income, determined on a calendar year basis, and 98% of its capital gain net income, determined, in general, as if the RIC’s taxable year ended on October 31, plus certain undistributed amounts from the preceding year. While each Fund intends to distribute its income and capital gains in the manner necessary to minimize imposition of the 4% excise tax, there can be no assurance that sufficient amounts of a Fund’s taxable income and capital gains will be distributed to avoid entirely the imposition of the tax. In such event, a Fund will be liable for the tax only on the amount by which it does not meet the foregoing distribution requirements. The required distributions are based only on the taxable income of a RIC. The excise tax, therefore, generally will not apply to the tax-exempt income of RICs, such as the CMA Tax-Exempt Funds and WCMA Tax-Exempt, that pay exempt-interest dividends.

General Treatment of Fund Shareholders

Dividends paid by a Fund from its ordinary income or from an excess of net short-term capital gain over net long-term capital loss (together referred to hereafter as “ordinary income dividends”) are taxable to shareholders as ordinary income. Distributions made from an excess of net long-term capital gain over net short-term capital loss (“capital gain dividends”) are taxable to shareholders as long-term capital gain, regardless of the length of time the shareholder has owned Fund shares. Distributions paid by a Fund that are designated as exempt-interest dividends will not be subject to regular Federal income tax. The tax rate on certain dividend income and long term capital gain applicable to non-corporate shareholders has been reduced for taxable years beginning prior to January 1, 2011. Under these rules, a certain portion of ordinary income dividends constituting “qualified dividend income” when paid by a RIC to non-corporate shareholders may be taxable to such shareholders at long-term capital gain rates. However, to the extent a Fund’s distributions are derived from income on debt securities and short-term capital gains, such distributions will not constitute “qualified dividend income.” Thus, ordinary income dividends paid by the Funds generally will not be eligible for taxation at the reduced rate.

Any loss upon the sale or exchange of Fund shares held for six months or less will be treated as long-term capital loss to the extent of any capital gain dividends received with respect to the shares. Distributions in excess of a Fund’s earnings and profits will first reduce the shareholder’s adjusted tax basis in his shares and any amount in excess of such basis will constitute capital gains to such shareholder (assuming the shares are held as a capital asset). Long-term capital gains (i.e., gains from a sale or exchange of capital assets held for more than one year) are generally taxed at preferential rates to non-corporate taxpayers. Generally not later than 60 days after the close of its taxable year, each Fund will provide its shareholders with a written notice designating the amounts of its dividends paid during the year that qualify as capital gain dividends or exempt-interest dividends, as applicable, as well as the portion of an exempt-interest dividend that constitutes an item of tax preference, as discussed below.

Ordinary income and capital gain dividends are taxable to shareholders even if they are reinvested in additional shares of a Fund. Distributions by a Fund, whether from ordinary income or capital gains, generally will not be eligible for the dividends received deduction allowed to corporations under the Code. If a Fund pays a dividend in January that was declared in the previous October, November or December to shareholders of record on a specified date in one of such months, then such dividend will be treated for tax purposes as being paid by the Fund and received by its shareholders on December 31 of the year in which such dividend was declared.

If the value of assets held by a Fund declines, the Trustees of a Fund may authorize a reduction in the number of outstanding shares in shareholders’ accounts so as to preserve a net asset value of $1.00 per share. After such a reduction, the basis of eliminated shares would be added to the basis of shareholders’ remaining Fund shares, and any shareholders disposing of shares at that time may recognize a capital loss. Except for the exempt-interest

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dividends paid by CMA Tax-Exempt Funds and WCMA Tax-Exempt, dividends, including dividends reinvested in additional shares of a Fund, will nonetheless be fully taxable, even if the number of shares in shareholders’ accounts has been reduced as described above.

A loss realized on a sale or exchange of shares of a Fund will be disallowed if other shares of the Fund are acquired (whether through the automatic reinvestment of dividends or otherwise) within a 61 day period beginning 30 days before and ending 30 days after the date on which the shares are sold or exchanged. In such a case, the basis of the shares acquired will be adjusted to reflect the disallowed loss.

Under certain provisions of the Code, some shareholders may be subject to a withholding tax on ordinary income dividends and capital gain dividends (“backup withholding”). Backup withholding may also be required on distributions paid by WCMA Tax-Exempt or a CMA Tax-Exempt Fund, unless such Fund reasonably estimates that at least 95% of its distributions during the taxable year are comprised of exempt-interest dividends. Generally, shareholders subject to backup withholding will be non-corporate shareholders for whom no certified taxpayer identification number is on file with a Fund or who, to a Fund’s knowledge, have furnished an incorrect number. When establishing an account, an investor must certify under penalty of perjury that such number is correct and that the investor is not otherwise subject to backup withholding. Backup withholding is not an additional tax. Any amount withheld generally may be allowed as a refund or a credit against a shareholder’s Federal income tax liability provided that the required information is timely provided to the IRS.

If a shareholder recognizes a loss with respect to a Fund’s shares of $2 million or more for an individual shareholder or $10 million or more for a corporate shareholder in any single taxable year (or a greater amount in a combination of taxable years), the shareholder must file a disclosure statement on Form 8886 with the IRS. Direct shareholders of portfolio securities are in many cases exempted from this reporting requirement, but under current guidance, shareholders of a RIC are not exempted. That a loss is reportable under these regulations does not affect the legal determination of whether the taxpayer’s treatment of the loss is proper. Shareholders should consult their tax advisers to determine the applicability of these regulations in light of their individual circumstances.

Interest received by a Fund may give rise to withholding and other taxes imposed by foreign countries. Tax conventions between certain countries and the United States may reduce or eliminate such taxes.

Ordinary income dividends paid to shareholders who are nonresident aliens or foreign entities will be subject to a 30% U.S. withholding tax under existing provisions of the Code applicable to foreign individuals and entities unless a reduced rate of withholding is provided under applicable treaty law. Nonresident shareholders are urged to consult their own tax advisers concerning applicability of the United States withholding tax. Dividends derived by a RIC from short-term capital gains and qualified net interest income (including income from original issue discount and market discount) and paid to stockholders who are nonresident aliens and foreign entities, if and to the extent properly designated as “interest-related dividends” or “short-term capital gain dividends,” generally will not be subject to U.S. withholding tax. Where possible, each Fund intends to make such designations. However, depending on its circumstances, a Fund may designate all, some or none of its potentially eligible dividends as interest-related dividends or as short-term capital gain dividends, and/or treat such dividends, in whole or in part, as ineligible for this exemption from withholding. In order to qualify for this exemption from withholding, a non-U.S. shareholder must comply with applicable certification requirements relating to its non-U.S. status (including, in general, furnishing an IRS Form W-8BEN or substitute form). In the case of shares held through an intermediary, the intermediary may withhold even if the Fund designates the payment as an interest-related dividend or short term capital gain dividend. Non-U.S. shareholders should contact their intermediaries with respect to the application of these rules to their accounts. It is not possible to predict what portion, if any, of a Fund’s distributions will be designated as consisting of qualified short term gain or qualified net interest income exempt from withholding in the hands of nonresident and foreign shareholders. Unless extended by Congress, this provision regarding interest-related dividends and short term capital gain dividends generally would apply to distributions with respect to only taxable years of a Fund beginning before January 1, 2010.

Ordinary income and capital gain dividends paid by the Funds may also be subject to state and local taxes. However, certain states exempt from state income taxation dividends paid by RICs that are derived from interest on

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United States Treasury obligations. State law varies as to whether dividend income attributable to United States Treasury obligations is exempt from state income tax.

CMA Tax-Exempt Funds, WCMA Tax-Exempt and Their Shareholders

The CMA Tax-Exempt Funds and WCMA Tax Exempt intend to qualify to pay “exempt-interest dividends” as defined in Section 852(b)(5) of the Code. Under such section if, at the close of each quarter of a Fund’s taxable year, at least 50% of the value of its total assets consists of obligations exempt from Federal income tax (“tax-exempt obligations”) under Section 103(a) of the Code (relating generally to obligations of a state or local governmental unit), the Fund will be qualified to pay exempt-interest dividends to its shareholders. Exempt-interest dividends are dividends or any part thereof paid by a Fund which are attributable to interest on tax-exempt obligations and designated as exempt-interest dividends in a written notice mailed to the Fund’s shareholders within 60 days after the close of the Fund’s taxable year.

Exempt-interest dividends will be excludable from a shareholder’s gross income for Federal income tax purposes. Exempt-interest dividends are included, however, in determining the portion, if any, of a shareholder’s social security benefits and railroad retirement benefits subject to Federal income taxes. Interest on indebtedness incurred or continued to purchase or carry shares of a RIC paying exempt-interest dividends, such as the CMA Tax-Exempt Funds and WCMA Tax Exempt, will not be deductible by a shareholder for Federal income tax purposes to the extent attributable to exempt-interest dividends. Shareholders are advised to consult their tax advisers with respect to whether exempt-interest dividends retain the exclusion under Code Section 103(a) if a shareholder would be treated as a “substantial user” or “related person” under Code Section 147(a) with respect to property financed with the proceeds of an issue of private activity bonds, if any, held by one of the CMA Tax-Exempt Funds and WCMA Tax Exempt.

All or a portion of the CMA Tax-Exempt Funds’ and WCMA Tax Exempt’s gain from the sale or redemption of tax-exempt obligations purchased at a market discount will be treated as ordinary income rather than capital gain. This rule may increase the amount of ordinary income dividends received by shareholders. Any loss upon the sale or exchange of Fund shares held for six months or less will be disallowed to the extent of any exempt-interest dividends received on such shares by a shareholder. In addition, any such loss that is not disallowed under the rule stated above will be treated as long-term capital loss to the extent of any capital gain dividends received on such shares by a shareholder.

The Code subjects interest received on certain otherwise tax-exempt securities to a Federal alternative minimum tax. The Federal alternative minimum tax applies to interest received on certain private activity bonds issued after August 7, 1986. Private activity bonds are bonds which, although tax-exempt, are used for purposes other than those generally performed by governmental units and which benefit non-governmental entities (e.g., bonds used for industrial development or housing purposes). Income received on such bonds is classified as an item of “tax preference,” which could subject certain investors in such bonds, including shareholders of a Fund, to a Federal alternative minimum tax. WCMA Tax Exempt and each CMA Tax-Exempt Fund will purchase such private activity bonds and will report to shareholders within 60 days after calendar year-end the portion of its dividends declared during the year which constitutes an item of tax preference for alternative minimum tax purposes. The Code further provides that corporations are subject to a Federal alternative minimum tax based, in part, on certain differences between taxable income as adjusted for other tax preferences and the corporation’s “adjusted current earnings,” which more closely reflect a corporation’s economic income. Because an exempt-interest dividend paid by WCMA Tax Exempt or a CMA Tax-Exempt Fund will be included in adjusted current earnings, a corporate shareholder may be required to pay alternative minimum tax on exempt-interest dividends paid by such a Fund.

CMA State Funds – State Taxes

Dividends paid by each CMA State Fund are subject to the tax laws of the specific state in which a shareholder resides. For a summary discussion of the state tax laws of the State in which CMA State Fund invests, please see “State Fund Tax Summaries” in Part I of each CMA State Fund’s Statement of Additional Information.

The Appendices to each CMA State Fund’s Statement of Additional Information contain a general and abbreviated summary of the state tax laws relevant to CMA State Fund as presently in effect. For the complete provisions,

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reference should be made to the applicable state tax laws. The state tax laws described in the appendices are subject to change by legislative, judicial, or administrative action either prospectively or retroactively. Shareholders of each CMA State Fund should consult their tax advisers about other state and local tax consequences of investment in such CMA State Fund.

The Code provides that every person required to file a tax return must include for information purposes on such return the amount of exempt-interest dividends received from all sources (including WCMA Tax-Exempt or any of the CMA Tax-Exempt Funds) during the taxable year.

Master – Feeder Funds

In the case of a Feeder Fund, such Fund is entitled to look to the underlying assets of the Master Portfolio in which it has invested for purposes of satisfying various qualification requirements of the Code applicable to RICs. Each Master Portfolio is classified as a partnership for U.S. Federal income tax purposes. If applicable tax provisions should change, then the Board of a Feeder Fund will determine, in its discretion, the appropriate course of action for the Feeder Fund. One possible course of action would be to withdraw the Feeder Fund’s investments from the Master Portfolio and to retain an investment manager to manage the Feeder Fund’s assets in accordance with the investment policies applicable to the Feeder Fund.

PROXY VOTING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES

The Board of Trustees of the Funds has delegated the voting of proxies for the Funds’ securities to the Manager pursuant to the Manager’s proxy voting guidelines. Under these guidelines, the Manager will vote proxies related to Fund securities in the best interests of the Fund and its stockholders. From time to time, a vote may present a conflict between the interests of the Fund’s stockholders, on the one hand, and those of the Manager, or any affiliated person of the Fund or the Manager, on the other. In such event, provided that the Manager’s Equity Investment Policy Oversight Committee, or a sub-committee thereof (the “Committee”) is aware of a real or potential conflict or material non-routine matter and if the Committee does not reasonably believe it is able to follow its general voting guidelines (or if the particular proxy matter is not addressed in the guidelines) and vote impartially, the Committee may retain an independent fiduciary to advise the Committee on how to vote or to cast votes on behalf of the Manager’s clients. If the Manager determines not to retain an independent fiduciary, or does not desire to follow the advice of such independent fiduciary, the Committee shall determine how to vote the proxy after consulting with the Manager’s Portfolio Management Group and/or the Manager’s Legal and Compliance Department and concluding that the vote cast is in its client’s best interest notwithstanding the conflict. A copy of the Funds’ Proxy Voting Policy and Procedures are attached as Appendix B. Information on how each Fund voted proxies relating to portfolio securities during the most recent 12-month period ended June 30 is available without charge, (i) at www.blackrock.com and (ii) on the Commission’s website at http://www.sec.gov.

GENERAL INFORMATION

Shareholders are entitled to one vote for each full share held and fractional votes for fractional shares held and vote in the election of Trustees and generally on other matters submitted to the vote of shareholders. In the case of Retirement Reserves and the WCMA Funds, each class represents an interest in the same assets of the respective Fund and are identical in all respects, except that each class of shares bears certain expenses related to the distribution of such shares and has exclusive voting rights with respect to matters relating to such distribution expenditures. Voting rights are not cumulative, so that the holders of more than 50% of the shares voting in the election of Trustees can, if they choose to do so, elect all Trustees of the Fund. No amendment may be made to the Declaration of Trust without the affirmative vote of a majority of the outstanding shares of the Fund except under certain limited circumstances set forth in the Fund’s Declaration of Trust, as amended (the “Declaration”).

There normally will be no meeting of shareholders for the purpose of electing Trustees unless and until such time as less than a majority of the Trustees holding office have been elected by the shareholders, at which time the Trustees then in office will call a shareholders’ meeting for the election of Trustees. Shareholders may cause a meeting of shareholders to be held in accordance with the terms of the Fund’s Declaration or by-laws, as the case may be. Also, each Fund will be required to call a special meeting of shareholders in accordance with the requirements of the Investment Company Act to seek approval of new advisory arrangements, of a material increase in distribution fees

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or of a change in fundamental policies, objectives or restrictions. Except as set forth above, the Trustees shall continue to hold office from year to year and appoint successor Trustees. Each issued and outstanding share is entitled to participate equally in dividends and distributions declared and in net assets upon liquidation or dissolution remaining after satisfaction of outstanding liabilities except for any expenses which may be attributable to only one class, in the case of Retirement Reserves or the CMA Funds. Shares issued are fully-paid and non-assessable by each Fund.

A copy of the Declaration establishing each Fund, together with all amendments thereto, is on file in the office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Declaration provides that the name of each Fund refers to the Trustees under the Declaration collectively as Trustees, but not as individuals or personally, and no Trustee, shareholder, officer, employee or agent of the Fund shall be held to any personal liability, nor shall resort be had to their property for the satisfaction of any obligation or claim of the Fund but the “Trust Property” (as defined in the Declaration) only shall be liable.

Additional Information

Under a separate agreement, BlackRock has granted the Funds, as applicable, the right to use the “BlackRock” name and has reserved the right to withdraw its consent to the use of such name by a Fund if the Fund ceases to retain BlackRock as investment adviser or to grant the use of such name to any other company.

See Part I, Section VIII “General Information” of each Fund’s Statement of Additional Information for other general information about your Fund.

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APPENDIX A

DESCRIPTION OF DEBT RATINGS

Commercial Paper and Bank Money Instruments

Commercial paper with the greatest capacity for timely payment is rated A by Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”). Issues within this category are further redefined with designations 1, 2 and 3 to indicate the relative degree of safety; A-1 or A-1+ the highest of the three, indicates the degree of safety regarding timely payment is strong; A-2 indicates that the capacity for timely repayment is satisfactory; A-3 indicates that capacity for timely payment is adequate, however, they are more vulnerable to the adverse changes of circumstances than obligations rated A-1 or A-2.

Moody’s Investors Service, Inc. (“Moody’s”) employs the designations of Prime-1, Prime-2 and Prime-3 to indicate the relative capacity of the rated issuers to repay punctually. Prime-1 issues have a superior capacity for repayment. Prime-2 issues have a strong capacity for timely repayment, but to a lesser degree than Prime-1, Prime-3 issues have an acceptable capacity for repayment.

Fitch Ratings (“Fitch”) employs the rating F-1 or F-1+ to indicate issues regarded as having the strongest capacity for timely payment. The rating F-2 indicates a satisfactory capacity for timely payment. The rating F-3 indicates an adequate capacity for timely payment.

Corporate Bonds

Bonds rated AAA have the highest rating assigned by S&P to a debt obligation. Capacity to pay interest and repay principal is extremely strong. Bonds rated AA have a very strong capacity to pay interest and repay principal and differ from the highest rated issues only in a small degree.

Bonds rated Aaa by Moody’s are judged to be of the best quality. Interest payments are protected by a large or by an exceptionally stable margin and principal is secure. Bonds rated Aa are judged to be of high quality by all standards. They are rated lower than the best bonds because margins of protection may not be as large or fluctuation of protective elements may be of greater amplitude or there may be other elements present which make the long-term risks appear somewhat larger than in Aaa securities. Moody’s applies numerical modifiers, 1, 2 and 3 in each generic rating classification from Aa through Caa in its corporate bond rating system. The modifier 1 indicates that the obligation ranks in the higher end of its generic rating category; the modifier 2 indicates a mid-range ranking; and the modifier 3 indicates that the issue ranks in the lower end of its generic rating category.

Bonds rated AAA by Fitch are considered to be investment grade and of the highest credit quality. The obligor has an exceptionally strong ability to pay interest and repay principal, which is unlikely to be affected by reasonably foreseeable events. Bonds rated AA are considered to be investment grade and of very high credit quality. The obligor’s ability to pay interest and repay principal is very strong, although not quite as strong as bonds rated AAA.

Ratings of Municipal Notes and Short-term Tax-Exempt Commercial Paper

Commercial paper with the greatest capacity for timely payment is rated A by Standard & Poor’s. Issues within this category are further redefined with designations 1, 2 and 3 to indicate the relative degree of safety; A-1 indicates the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial obligation is strong; issues that possess extremely strong safety characteristics will be given an A-1+ designation; A-2 indicates that the obligor’s capacity to meet its financial obligation is satisfactory. A Standard & Poor’s rating with respect to certain municipal note issues with a maturity of less than three years reflects the liquidity factors and market access risks unique to notes. SP-1, the highest note rating, indicates a strong capacity to pay principal and interest. Issues that possess a very strong capacity to pay debt service will be given an “SP-1+” designation. SP-2,

the second highest note rating, indicates a satisfactory capacity to pay principal and interest, with some vulnerability to adverse financial and economic changes over the term of the notes.

Moody’s employs the designations of Prime-1, Prime-2 and Prime-3 with respect to commercial paper to indicate the relative capacity of the rated issuers (or related supporting institutions) to repay punctually. Prime-l issues have a superior capacity for repayment. Prime-2 issues have a strong capacity for repayment, but to a lesser degree than Prime-1. Moody’s highest rating for short-term notes and VRDOs is MIG1/VMIG1; MIG-1/VMIG-1 denotes “superior credit quality”, enjoying “highly reliable liquidity support” or “demonstrated broad-based access to the market for refinancing”; MIG2/VMIG2 denotes “strong credit quality” with margins of protection that are ample although not so large as MIG1/VMIG1.

Fitch employs the rating F-1+ to indicate short-term debt issues regarded as having the strongest degree of assurance determined by established cash flow for timely payment. The rating F-1 reflects an assurance of timely payment only slightly less in degree than issues rated F-1+. The rating F-2 indicates a satisfactory degree of assurance for timely payment, although the margin of safety is not as indicated by the F-1+ and F-1 categories.

Ratings of Municipal Bonds

Bonds rated AAA have the highest rating assigned by Standard & Poor’s to a debt obligation. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial obligation is extremely strong. Bonds rated AA differ from the highest rated obligations only in a small degree. The obligor’s capacity to meet its financial commitment on the obligation is very strong. A Standard & Poor’s municipal debt rating is a current assessment of the creditworthiness of an obligor with respect to a specific obligation. This assessment may take into consideration obligors such as guarantors and insurers of lessees.

Bonds rated Aaa by Moody’s are judged to be of the best quality. Interest payments are protected by a large or by an exceptionally stable margin and principal is secure. Bonds rated Aa are judged to be of high quality by all standards. They are rated lower than the best bonds because the margins of protection may not be as large or fluctuation of protective elements may be of greater amplitude or there may be other elements present which make the long-term risks appear somewhat larger than in Aaa securities. Moody’s applies the numerical modifier 1 to the classifications Aa through Caa to indicate that Moody’s believes the issue possesses the strongest investment attributes in its rating category. Bonds for which the security depends upon the completion of some act or the fulfillment of some condition are rated conditionally. These are bonds secured by (a) earnings of projects under construction, (b) earnings of projects unseasoned in operating experience, (c) rentals that begin when facilities are completed, or (d) payments to which some other limiting condition attaches. Parenthetical rating denotes probable credit stature upon completion of construction or elimination of basis of condition.

Bonds rated AAA by Fitch denote the lowest expectation of credit risk. Bonds rated AA denote a very low expectation of credit risk. Both ratings indicate very strong capacity for timely payment of financial commitments. This capacity is not significantly vulnerable to reasonably foreseeable events. The ratings take into consideration special features of the issue, its relationship to other obligations of the issuer, the current and prospective financial condition and operative performance of the issuer and of any guarantor, as well as the economic and political environment that might affect the issuer’s future financial strength and credit quality. Bonds that have the same rating are of similar but not necessarily identical credit quality since the rating categories do not fully reflect small differences in the degrees of credit risk.

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APPENDIX B

Proxy Voting Policies

For The BlackRock-Advised Funds

June, 2008

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Table of Contents


		Page
Introduction		A-1

Proxy Voting Policies		A-2

Boards of Directors		A-2

Auditors		A-2

Compensation and Benefits		A-2

Capital Structure		A-2

Corporate Charter and By-Laws		A-2

Corporate Meetings		A-2

Investment Companies		A-2

Environmental and Social Issues		A-3

Reports to the Board		A-3

Introduction

The Trustees/Directors (“Directors”) of the BlackRock-Advised Funds (the “Funds”) have the responsibility for voting proxies relating to portfolio securities of the Funds, and have determined that it is in the best interests of the Funds and their shareholders to delegate that responsibility to BlackRock Advisors, LLC and its affiliated U.S. registered investment advisers (“BlackRock”), the investment adviser to the Funds, as part of BlackRock’s authority to manage, acquire and dispose of account assets. The Directors hereby direct BlackRock to vote such proxies in accordance with this Policy, and any proxy voting guidelines that the Adviser determines are appropriate and in the best interests of the Funds’ shareholders and which are consistent with the principles outlined in this Policy. The Directors have authorized BlackRock to utilize an unaffiliated third-party as its agent to vote portfolio proxies in accordance with this Policy and to maintain records of such portfolio proxy voting.

When BlackRock votes proxies for an advisory client that has delegated to BlackRock proxy voting authority, BlackRock acts as the client’s agent. Under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”), an investment adviser is a fiduciary that owes each of its clients a duty of care and loyalty with respect to all services the adviser undertakes on the client’s behalf, including proxy voting. BlackRock is therefore subject to a fiduciary duty to vote proxies in a manner BlackRock believes is consistent with the client’s best interests.¹ When voting proxies for the Funds, BlackRock’s primary objective is to make voting decisions solely in the best interests of the Funds’ shareholders. In fulfilling its obligations to shareholders, BlackRock will seek to act in a manner that it believes is most likely to enhance the economic value of the underlying securities held in client accounts.² It is imperative that BlackRock considers the interests of Fund shareholders, and not the interests of BlackRock, when voting proxies and that real (or perceived) material conflicts that may arise between BlackRock’s interest and those of BlackRock’s clients are properly addressed and resolved.

Advisers Act Rule 206(4)-6 was adopted by the SEC in 2003 and requires, among other things, that an investment adviser that exercises voting authority over clients’ proxy voting adopt policies and procedures reasonably designed to ensure that the adviser votes proxies in the best interests of clients, discloses to its clients information about those policies and procedures and also discloses to clients how they may obtain information on how the adviser has voted their proxies.

BlackRock has adopted separate but substantially similar guidelines and procedures that are consistent with the principles of this Policy. BlackRock’s Equity Investment Policy Oversight Committee, or a sub-committee thereof (the “Committee”), addresses proxy voting issues on behalf of BlackRock and its clients, including the Funds. The Committee is comprised of senior members of BlackRock’s Portfolio Management and Administration Groups and is advised by BlackRock’s Legal and Compliance Department.

¹	Letter from Harvey L. Pitt, Chairman, SEC, to John P.M. Higgins, President, Ram Trust Services (February 12, 2002) (Section 206 of the Investment Advisers Act imposes a fiduciary responsibility to vote proxies fairly and in the best interests of clients); SEC Release No. IA-2106 (February 3, 2003).

Other considerations, such as social, labor, environmental or other policies, may be of interest to particular clients. While BlackRock is cognizant of the importance of such considerations, when voting proxies it will generally take such matters into account only to the extent that they have a direct bearing on the economic value of the underlying securities. To the extent that a BlackRock client, such as the Funds, desires to pursue a particular social, labor, environmental or other agenda through the proxy votes made for its securities held through BlackRock as investment adviser, BlackRock encourages the client to consider retaining direct proxy voting authority or to appoint independently a special proxy voting fiduciary other than BlackRock.

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Proxy Voting Policies

Boards of Directors

These proposals concern those issues submitted to shareholders relating to the composition of the board of directors of companies other than investment companies. As a general matter, the Funds believe that a company’s board of directors (rather than shareholders) is most likely to have access to important, nonpublic information regarding a company’s business and prospects, and is therefore best-positioned to set corporate policy and oversee management. The Funds therefore believe that the foundation of good corporate governance is the election of qualified, independent corporate directors who are likely to diligently represent the interests of shareholders and oversee management of the corporation in a manner that will seek to maximize shareholder value over time. In individual cases, consideration may be given to a director nominee’s history of representing shareholder interests as a director of other companies, or other factors to the extent deemed relevant by the Committee.

Auditors

These proposals concern those issues submitted to shareholders related to the selection of auditors. As a general matter, the Funds believe that corporate auditors have a responsibility to represent the interests of shareholders and provide an independent view on the propriety of financial reporting decisions of corporate management. While the Funds anticipate that the Committee will generally defer to a corporation’s choice of auditor, in individual cases, consideration may be given to an auditors’ history of representing shareholder interests as auditor of other companies, to the extent deemed relevant.

Compensation and Benefits

These proposals concern those issues submitted to shareholders related to management compensation and employee benefits. As a general matter, the Funds favor disclosure of a company’s compensation and benefit policies and oppose excessive compensation, but believe that compensation matters are normally best determined by a corporation’s board of directors, rather than shareholders. Proposals to “micro-manage” a company’s compensation practices or to set arbitrary restrictions on compensation or benefits should therefore generally not be supported by the Committee.

Capital Structure

These proposals relate to various requests, principally from management, for approval of amendments that would alter the capital structure of a company, such as an increase in authorized shares. As a general matter, the Funds expect that the Committee will support requests that it believes enhance the rights of common shareholders and oppose requests that appear to be unreasonably dilutive.

Corporate Charter and By-Laws

These proposals relate to various requests for approval of amendments to a corporation’s charter or by-laws, principally for the purpose of adopting or redeeming “poison pills”. As a general matter, the Funds expect that the Committee will oppose poison pill provisions unless, after consultation with the portfolio managers, it is determined that supporting the poison pill is in the best interest of shareholders.

Corporate Meetings

These are routine proposals relating to various requests regarding the formalities of corporate meetings. As a general matter, the Funds expect that the Committee will support company management except where the proposals are substantially duplicative or serve no legitimate business purpose.

Investment Companies

These proposals relate to proxy issues that are associated solely with holdings of shares of investment companies, including, but not limited to, investment companies for which BlackRock provides investment advisory,

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administrative and/or other services. As with other types of companies, the Funds believe that an investment company’s board of directors (rather than its shareholders) is best-positioned to set fund policy and oversee management. However, the Funds oppose granting boards of directors authority over certain matters, such as changes to a fund’s investment objective, that the Investment Company Act of 1940 envisions will be approved directly by shareholders.

Environmental and Social Issues

These are shareholder proposals to limit corporate conduct in some manner that relates to the shareholder’s environmental or social concerns. The Funds generally believe that annual shareholder meetings are inappropriate forums for the discussion of larger social issues, and oppose shareholder resolutions “micro-managing” corporate conduct or requesting release of information that would not help a shareholder evaluate an investment in the corporation as an economic matter. While the Funds are generally supportive of proposals to require corporate disclosure of matters that seem relevant and material to the economic interests of shareholders, the Funds generally are not supportive of proposals to require disclosure of corporate matters for other purposes.

Reports to the Board

BlackRock will report to the Directors on proxy votes it has made on behalf of the Funds at least annually.

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