irst Data Corp. subsidiary, Western Union Financial Services, Inc., has been put on notice to supply information to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Western Union confirmed on Feb. 4, 2004 that it received a Civil Investigative Demand (CID) from the DOJ. A CID is a request for additional information in a civil investigation; it does not mean that legal proceedings have begun.

The CID was issued in regard to an antitrust investigation the DOJ is conducting over the contractual relationships between Western Union and its money transfer agents.

Western Union has also been informed that certain states are aware of the CID and may join in the investigation or conduct separate inquiries of their own concerning the competitive aspects of its money transfer business.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and one state began preliminary investigations of similar issues between 2000 and 2001. These investigations were closed without any resulting actions being taken, however.

First Data believes the investigation centers on Western Union's agent exclusivity requirements. Under the company's current guidelines, agents agree to offer Western Union's money transfer services on an exclusive basis.

Western Union and its subsidiary, Orlandi Valuta, together make up one of the world's largest money transfer networks with a combined total of approximately 182,000 agent locations in more than 195 countries and territories. The DOJ's concerns would affect only the 50,000-plus U.S.-based Western Union agents.

Credit Suisse First Boston, a global financial intermediary and advisor for institutional, corporate, government and individual clients, does not expect this current DOJ investigation to have any short-term implications for First Data.

While it may lose some agents, long-term impact for Western Union would most likely be limited to a relatively small number of agents adding alternative transfer networks to their existing offerings.

First Data does not expect news of the CID to affect the progress toward completion of its acquisition of Concord EFS, Inc. on course to be finalized by mid-March 2004.