Practical considerations for revised Rule 144

On December 6, 2007, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted revisions to Rules 144 and 145 under the Securities Act of 1933. The revisions, which will become effective February 15, 2008, considerably relax the rules limiting resales of restricted securities. Most significantly, as indicated in the table below, the revisions to Rule 144 shorten the holding period for restricted securities of reporting issuers (companies that are and have been subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 for at least 90 days before the proposed Rule 144 sale) to six months for both affiliates and non-affiliates.