On taking note of the statements made by the Liverpool Fund regarding its buy back operations, Telecom Italia wishes to stress that its line of action conforms with the regulations that apply in such cases, and is coherent with the mandate issued by the Shareholders´ Meeting on 14 January 2000. The deliberation made at the Meeting, having taken into account the operating regulations of the electronic market, did not assign to savings shareholders the right to sell their shares at a price of €6.5 to Telecom Italia; nor did the ruling oblige Telecom Italia to acquire the total figure stated in the aforementioned ruling. Telecom Italia therefore wishes to reaffirm that it has acted with propriety. The company is confident that this will be duly acknowledged.