New York, N.Y., December 6, 2017 — SIFMA has announced its recommendations for a full market close on Monday, December 25 and Tuesday, December 26 for the trading of U.S. dollar-denominated fixed-income securities in the U.K. in observance of the Christmas and Boxing Day Holidays.

Note the following: For U.K. Boxing Day 2017/2018 in the U.K., there will be a full market close on December 26 instead of the previously recommended early close.

These recommendations apply to trading of US dollar-denominated government securities, mortgage- and asset-backed securities, over-the-counter investment-grade and high-yield corporate bonds, municipal bonds and secondary money market trading in bankers’ acceptances, commercial paper and Yankee and Euro certificates of deposit.

The early close will not affect the closing time for settlements.

SIFMA’s recommended early and full market closes are recommendations only; each member firm should decide for itself whether its fixed-income departments remain open for trading. All SIFMA recommendations are subject to change due to market conditions.

– 30 –

SIFMA is the voice of the U.S. securities industry. We represent the broker-dealers, banks and asset managers whose nearly 1 million employees provide access to the capital markets, raising over $2.5 trillion for businesses and municipalities in the U.S., serving clients with over $18.5 trillion in assets and managing more than $67 trillion in assets for individual and institutional clients including mutual funds and retirement plans. SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA). For more information, visit http://www.sifma.org.