U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
   WASHINGTON, D.C.

   LITIGATION RELEASE NO. 16645 \ August 8, 2000

   ACCOUNTING AND AUDITING ENFORCEMENT RELEASE NO. 1292

   Securities and Exchange Commission v. Stefan M. Palatin, Civil Action
   No. 1 00CV01909, USDC DC.

   SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION SUES FORMER CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
   OF THE CRONOS GROUP FOR VIOLATIONS OF ANTIFRAUD, BOOKS AND RECORDS,
   AND INTERNAL CONTROL PROVISIONS

   The Securities and Exchange Commission ("Commission") today filed a
   civil injunctive action in the federal district court for the District
   of Columbia against Stefan M. Palatin, the former chairman and CEO of
   The Cronos Group. The Commission alleges that Palatin caused Cronos to
   misrepresent or fail to disclose a series of transactions by which
   Palatin obtained more than $10 million from Cronos or from a customer
   of the company who owed the funds to Cronos. The Commission alleges
   that as a consequence of Palatin's misconduct the company
   misrepresented or failed to disclose the transactions in the company's
   registration statement, public statements to shareholders, and in
   filings with the Commission between 1995 and 1998. The complaint also
   alleges that Palatin caused the transactions to be recorded
   inaccurately in Cronos' books and records and he made and caused to be
   made misrepresentations to the company's auditors. Cronos, a
   Luxembourg holding company with its operational headquarters in
   Orchard Lea, England, manages and owns marine cargo containers.

   According to the complaint, Palatin caused Cronos to fail to disclose
   that Palatin intercepted payments between Cronos and one of its major
   customers (which Palatin also controlled); he caused Cronos to pay him
   millions of dollars in the year before its initial public offering and
   recorded the payments as a loan to a third party; and Palatin, through
   another entity that he controlled, sold shares in Cronos' IPO. The
   Commission also alleges that, following the IPO, Palatin caused Cronos
   to fail to disclose that it paid additional funds to him immediately
   after the offering. The Commission further alleges that Palatin
   pledged collateral he did not won to secure a loan from the company
   and he caused the company to make misrepresentations concerning the
   collateral. The Commission also alleges that Palatin controlled the
   company's disclosures and was the beneficiary of the transactions that
   the company misrepresented in its filings and public statements.

   The Commission seeks an order permanently enjoining Palatin from
   violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act, Sections 10(b), 13(a),