41.   The severity of the investigation, which centers on issues such as check controls rather than deliberate criminal activity, is overdone, say the banks.

42.   The selection was made with the advice of Frank Russell Co., which specializes in analyzing the performance of asset managers, the bank said in a statement.

43.   Traders say Japanese banks and life insurance companies, which maintain large stock portfolios, have been selling futures contracts.

44.   Traders said trust banks and long-term credit banks were rushing to secure low fixed rates.

45.   UBS legal counsel Urs Roth also said the bank will not disclose what it spent on the legal battle.

46.   Publicly, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council opposes the idea, saying the bank would duplicate the functions of existing lending institutions.

47.   A spokesman for the Japanese Bankers Association said banks affected by a similar tax in Osaka, in western Japan, are studying whether to take legal action there.

48.   All, said the bank, were crude forgeries done with copy machines or computer printers and scanners.

49.   Blecher agreed, saying the bank and its stock may have reached bottom.

50.   But they said the banks and the Swiss government also needed to compromise.