On February 11, 2005, the Company filed Form N-54 in which it elected to become a Business Development Corporation (“BDC”) under the Investment Company Act of 1940.  The Company believed that this election was valid and reported that it was a BDC. However, the Company reported in a Form 8-K filed on February 21, 2007 that it had discovered an irregularity in the filing of the N-54, and that it had concluded, as a result, that it was not and had never been a BDC. 

Since February 21, 2007, representatives of the Company have been in discussion with representatives of the SEC. It is the view of the SEC that the Company’s election to become a BDC was a valid election, and that the Company remains a BDC despite the statements to the contrary contained in the February 21, 2007 Form 8-K. The Company has decided that it would be in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders to render the issue moot by filing a notice of withdrawal of its BDC election under s.54(c) of the Investment Company Act. The Company has already filed a preliminary Form 14-C reporting that the decision to withdraw the election has been approved by the Company’s Board of Directors and shareholders and will forthwith file a Definitive 14-C notifying the SEC and its shareholders of the withdrawal of its BDC status.