Bear Stearns Sells $5.95 Billion in Mortgage-Backed Securities for Fleet

Business Wire, May 15, 2001

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 2001

Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. announced today that it has completed a transaction to sell $5.95 billion in mortgage-backed securities for FleetBoston Financial. The transaction follows the March 1 completion of Fleet's acquisition of Summit Bancorp.

Completion of this complex transaction depended heavily on the innovative work of Bear Stearns' Financial Analytics and Structured Transactions Group (F.A.S.T.). Through its proprietary analytics, its proprietary collateralized mortgage obligation arbitrage and proprietary loan-level prepayment models, Bear Stearns and its financial engineering capabilities optimized asset allocation, maximized Fleet's asset value and created a multitude of structured securities. The resulting deal was the largest Agency re-securitization ever issued.

"The Fleet transaction illustrates Bear Stearns' strong commitment to providing mortgage clients with innovative and creative technologies combined with the power of a seasoned sales and trading force," said Jeffrey Mayer, head of the Bear Stearns Mortgage Department.

"With the Summit deal, it was our intention to reposition the balance sheet through the sale of low-margin assets, including $8 billion of securities," said Doug Jacobs, Treasurer, FleetBoston Financial. "Bear Stearns offered a sophisticated approach to this key portion of the sale, which allowed us to successfully complete the transaction," Jacobs added.

FleetBoston Financial is the seventh-largest financial holding company in the United States. A diversified financial services company with assets exceeding $200 billion, Fleet offers a comprehensive array of innovative financial solutions to 20 million customers in more than 20 countries and territories. Among the company's key lines of business are: retail banking, with nearly 1,700 branches and more than 3,800 ATMs in the Northeast; commercial banking, including capital markets/investment banking and commercial finance; investment services, including discount brokerage; and full-service banking through more than 250 offices in Latin America. FleetBoston Financial is headquartered in Boston and listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: FBF) and the Boston Stock Exchange (BSE: FBF).

Founded in 1923, Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. is a leading worldwide investment banking and securities trading and brokerage firm, and the major subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE:BSC). With approximately $25.8 billion in total capital, Bear Stearns serves governments, corporations, institutions and individuals worldwide. The company's business includes corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions, institutional equities and fixed income sales, trading and research, private client services, derivatives, foreign exchange and futures sales and trading, asset management and custody services. Through Bear, Stearns Securities Corp., it offers prime broker and broker dealer services, including securities lending. Headquartered in New York City, the company has approximately 11,000 employees located in domestic offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Juan; and an international presence in Beijing, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Lugano, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. For additional information about Bear Stearns, please visit the firm's Web site at http://www.bearstearns.com.