FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 99-52 Rulemaking In Connection With EDGAR Modernization Washington, DC, May 17, 1999 -- Today the Commission issued a release (Release Nos. 33-7684; 34-41410; IC-23843) adopting new rules and amendments to existing rules and forms in connection with the initial modernization of the Commission's Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system. This release also reflects other changes that clarify or update the rules. In addition, the Commission issued an update to the EDGAR Filer Manual (Release Nos. 33-7685; 34-41411; 35-27026; 39-2373; IC-23844). On June 28, 1999, the Commission will begin accepting live filings submitted to EDGAR in HyperText Markup Language (HTML) as well as documents submitted in the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) format. At that time, filers will have the option of accompanying their required filings with unofficial copies in Portable Document Format (PDF). Beginning May 24, 1999, filers may submit test filings that include documents in HTML and PDF format. Filers electing to submit test HTML and/or PDF documents must do so in accordance with the new rule provisions. For further information about the amendments, please contact: in the Division of Investment Management, Ruth Armfield Sanders, Senior Counsel, (202) 942-0633; and in the Division of Corporation Finance, Margaret R. Black, EDGAR Specialist, (202) 942-2940. For questions about the development of the modernized EDGAR system, please contact Richard D. Heroux, EDGAR Program Manager, Office of Information Technology, (202) 942-8885. For questions about the updated EDGAR Filer Manual, please contact Margaret A. Favor, Branch Chief, Filer Technical Support, (202) 942- 8606. # # #