Bear Stearns Prices Fourth Agency-Guaranteed CRAResidential MBS Transaction.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--August 17, 1998--

$1.89 Billion in CRA Loan Securitizations Priced to Date

Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. announced today that it has priced its fourth agency-guaranteed, 100% Community Reinvestment Act residential mortgage loan securitization. The transaction,

The Fannie Mae 1998-W5 transaction was oversubscribed at pricing. The transaction consists of $354 million of bonds which will carry a Fannie Mae guarantee as to timely interest and principal. "Fannie Mae is very pleased to work with Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and Citicorp to increase affordable lending and community reinvestment communities across the nation," said Barry Zigas, Executive Director and Senior Vice President of Fannie Mae's National Housing Impact Division.

With the pricing of this transaction, Bear Stearns has managed more than $1.89 billion of CRA loan securitizations over the past ten months. The securitizations include FHLMC T-008 ($411 million of collateral) using loans originated or acquired by First Union and FHLMC T-011 ($335 million of collateral) using loans originated by Mellon Bank. Bear Stearns also managed the largest CRA loan securitization to date, Fannie Mae 1998-W2 ($749 million of collateral) using loans originated or acquired by Fleet Bank.

Bear Stearns is seeking to develop interest and support for loans issued to low- and moderate-income home buyers and is actively pursuing CRA loan portfolios for future securitization, including portfolios as small as $25 million. To discuss innovative solutions that will result in the highest price for CRA loan portfolios, call the Bear Stearns CRA information line at (212) 499-9807.

Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc., a leading worldwide investment banking and securities trading and brokerage firm, is the major subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE: BSC). With approximately $17.9 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 and trading, private client services, derivatives, asset management, correspondent clearing, securities lending, and custody services. Headquartered in New York City, the company has approximately 9,200 employees located in domestic offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco; and an international presence in Beijing, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Lugano, Paris, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo.

   CONTACT: Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc.
             Christine Illes (212) 272-4395