Notice Regarding the Acquisition of Authorization as a Qualified
Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII)

Okasan Asset Management Co., Ltd. (Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Toshiyuki Yoshino) announces that on March 30 it received authorization as a Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) from the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

Receiving this authorization allows Okasan Asset Management Co., Ltd. to submit applications for investment frameworks in Chinese securities markets based on the QFII program of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange. Okasan Asset Management Co., Ltd. plans to use the investment frameworks it receives to establish investment trusts with direct investment in Chinese mainland stocks and other equities.

The Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) Program

The Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) is a program launched on December 1, 2002, that enables foreign institutional investors fulfilling defined eligibility conditions pertaining to management systems, asset amounts, and other items and receiving authorization by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange to conduct investment in China's stock exchanges, which were previously closed off to foreign investors.