Austin, Texas, Nov. 12 -- Today's final passage of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act of 1999 for U.S. financial services reform provides tremendous growth opportunities for financial services companies around the world, reports Computer Sciences Corporation (NYSE: CSC), a leading provider of strategic consulting and information technology solutions to the financial services industry.

CSC cautions these companies, however, that they must define and execute a new role in this less-constricted environment while retaining their own strengths in the marketplace, or they may lose ground competitively.

"We are about to see a flurry of U.S. and cross-border mergers and partnerships in the financial services industry," said Mike Nemeth, executive vice president of CSC's Financial Services Group. "Many of these companies will be scrambling to offer all things to all customers. However, only a few will succeed at being the one-stop shop for all financial services.

"The good news is that this is not the only winning strategy," he added. "We believe there will be three primary kinds of organizations going forward. There will be those that look to provide a total solution to the customer, those that are brokers for the customer and those that look to fill a niche.

"The total solution providers and brokers/content aggregators will pursue a customer- intimate strategy, seeking to form learning relationships with their customers that maximize the customers' lifetime value, while the affinity/niche providers may compete on price or product innovation, or they may specialize in serving a certain affinity group, like senior citizens or shoppers of certain stores. These providers may own the channels to the consumer or may provide their products through relationships with customer-intimate firms.

"The traditional ways in which most financial services companies are currently structured - in product silos - do not match these post-legislation models and could be a roadblock to future success," Nemeth continued.

"The key to success will be in managing the tremendous cultural and organizational change that comes with new business models. This will include breaking down product and geographic silos, reexamining core strengths, making rapid adjustments to strategy as conditions change, and devising methods to expand customer relationships across the enterprise while still protecting consumer privacy interests. This is no time for conventional thinking," Nemeth concluded.

CSC's Financial Services Group offers a comprehensive array of business and technology solutions which support the complex requirements of the evolving global financial services industry. Customers include more than 1,000 banks, insurers, investment firms, consumer finance companies and other major financial services organizations around the globe.

Computer Sciences Corporation helps clients in industry and government use information technology to achieve strategic and operational objectives. With 54,000 employees in more than 700 offices worldwide, the company tailors solutions from a broad suite of integrated service offerings, including e-business strategies and technologies; management and I/T consulting; systems development and integration; application software; and I/T and business process outsourcing.

Since its formation in 1959, CSC has been known for its flexibility in its relationships with clients. Through numerous agreements with hardware and software technology firms, the company is able to identify and manage solutions specifically tailored to each client's needs. CSC had revenues of $8.2 billion for the twelve months ended October 1, 1999. Its headquarters are in El Segundo, California. For more information, visit the company's web site at www.csc.com.