Quarterly payments of $450 have been designated to be paid out of the new Elders’ Settlement Trust on Friday, Feb. 13; Friday, May 14; Friday, Aug. 13; and Friday, Nov. 12. CIRI shareholders voted last June to establish an irrevocable CIRI Elders’ Settlement Trust for the benefit of original CIRI enrollees who are 65 years of age or older and who own at least one share of CIRI stock.

The trust is a legal arrangement by which the trustees hold and manage the money for the beneficiaries. This special settlement trust, formed under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, is irrevocable and the proceeds cannot be withdrawn by the company for any reason.

CIRI shareholders turning 65 years of age who want to start receiving the elders’ payment do not need to do anything but keep a current mailing address with CIRI’s Shareholder Relations department. Because receiving Elders’ Settlement Trust benefits may cause some elders to exceed income or asset limits for certain federal or federally -assisted social welfare programs, a mechanism to “opt-out” of the Trust is available.

For more information or to receive an Elders’ Settlement Trust Opt-Out form, contact the Shareholder Relations department at (907) 274-8638 or toll-free at (800) 764-2474.

Shareholders who elect to opt-out will be eligible to opt back in, so long as they still own at least one share of CIRI stock.
However, elders opting out will not be eligible to receive missed back payments. Portions of the Settlement Trust payments are also taxable and the taxable portion may vary from year to year. For more information about taxes on the 2003 payments see page 8.

Shareholders Launch Legal Attack on Elders’ Trust
In January 2004, shareholders Eleanor Bodkin and Maria Coleman, represented by lawyer Fred Triem, filed a proposed class action lawsuit against CIRI and the newly-formed Settlement Trust seeking to invalidate the Settlement Trust and the modified Elders’ Benefit Program, and to prevent further trust payments to elders. These shareholders argue that payments to elders unlawfully discriminate against younger shareholders, a claim similar to arguments raised and rejected in an earlier lawsuit challenging the Elders Benefit Program. That program was upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals last year. They also claim that the proxy materials circulated about the Trust in advance of last year’s annual meeting (at which shareholders overwhelming approved the Trust’s creation) were legally flawed.

“I am disappointed that these shareholders would choose to attack these worthy programs. However, these kinds of claims have been rejected by the courts in the past, and I am confident they will be rejected this time too,” said CIRI President and Chief Executive Officer Carl Marrs.