/bullet/TLGIT *P2
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CLASS REDESIGNATION
EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 1999
Class A - Formerly Class I
Class C - Formerly Class II
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SUPPLEMENT DATED MARCH 12, 1999
TO THE PROSPECTUS OF
TEMPLETON REGION FUNDS
DATED AUGUST 1, 1998
The prospectus is amended as follows:
I. As of January 1, 1999, Class I shares are designated Class A and Class II
shares are designated Class C. All references in the prospectus to Class I
shares are replaced with Class A, and all references to Class II shares are
replaced with Class C.
II. The following is added under "What Are the Risks of Investing in the
Funds?":
YEAR 2000. When evaluating current and potential portfolio positions, Year 2000
is one of the factors an Investment Manager considers.
The Investment Manager will rely upon public filings and other statements made
by companies about their Year 2000 readiness. Issuers in countries outside the
U.S., particularly in emerging markets, may not be required to make the same
level of disclosure about Year 2000 readiness as is required in the U.S. The
Investment Manager, of course, cannot audit each company and its major suppliers
to verify their Year 2000 readiness.
If a company in which the fund is invested is adversely affected by Year 2000
problems, it is likely that the price of its securities will also be adversely
affected. A decrease in the value of one or more of the fund's portfolio
holdings will have a similar impact on the fund's performance. Please see "Year
2000 Problem" under "Who Manages the Funds?" for more information.
EURO RISK. On January 1, 1999, the European Monetary Union (EMU) introduced a
new single currency, the euro, which will replace the national currency for
participating member countries. If the fund holds investments in countries with
currencies replaced by the euro, the investment process, including trading,
foreign exchange, payments, settlements, cash accounts, custody and accounting
will be impacted.
Because this change to a single currency is new and untested, the establishment
of the euro may result in market volatility. For the same reason, it is not
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possible to predict the impact of the euro on the business or financial
condition of European issuers which the fund may hold in its portfolio, and
their impact on fund performance. To the extent the fund holds non-U.S. dollar
(euro or other) denominated securities, it will still be exposed to currency
risk due to fluctuations in those currencies versus the U.S. dollar.
III. The section "Latin America Fund," found under "Who Manages the Funds? -
Portfolio Management" is replaced with the following:
LATIN AMERICA FUND. The lead portfolio manager since March 1999 is Heidi S.
Andersen. Ms. Andersen is a Vice President of Investment Counsel. She holds a BA
from the University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from The Columbia Graduate
School of Business. Ms. Andersen is a Chartered Financial Analyst. She
joined the Templeton organization in 1995 as a research analyst with
responsibilities for global coverage of the consumer electrics/electronics
industries, and assisting on the construction and housing industry. Ms.
Andersen also has country coverage of the Czech Republic.
Mark R. Beveridge, Howard J. Leonard and Ed Lugo have secondary portfolio
management responsibilities for the fund. Mr. Beveridge is a Senior Vice
President of Investment Counsel. He holds a BBA in finance from the University
of Miami. He is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Chartered Investment
Counselor, and a member of the South Florida Society of Financial Analysts and
the International Society of Financial Analysts. Before joining the Templeton
organization in 1985 as a security analyst, Mr. Beveridge was a principal with a
financial accounting software firm based in Miami, Florida. He is currently a
portfolio manager and research analyst with responsibility for non-life
insurance and industrial components industries. He also has country coverage of
Argentina. Mr. Leonard is an Executive Vice President of Investment Counsel. He
holds a BBA in finance/economics from the Temple University School of Business
Administration. Mr. Leonard is a Chartered Financial Analyst and a member of the
Financial Analysts of Philadelphia, the Financial Analysts Federation and the
International Society of Security Analysts. Before joining the Templeton
organization in 1989, Mr. Leonard was Director of investment research at First
Pennsylvania Bank, where he was responsible for equity and fixed-income research
activities. Mr. Leonard also worked previously at Provident National Bank as a
security analyst covering a variety of industries. Mr. Leonard currently manages
both institutional and mutual fund accounts of global and international
mandates. He has research responsibility for the machinery and engineering
industries, and also follows the following countries: Brazil and Indonesia. Mr.
Lugo is a research analyst for Investment Counsel. He holds a BS in finance from
Northeastern University and an MBA from Columbia University. Before joining the
Templeton organization in 1996, Mr. Lugo was a research analyst with C.L.
Trading. He currently has country coverage of Argentina, and assists with
coverage of the industrial components industry.
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IV. The following is added after the "Administrative Services" section of "Who
Manages the Funds?":
YEAR 2000 PROBLEM. The fund's business operations depend on a worldwide network
of computer systems that contain date fields, including securities trading
systems, securities transfer agent operations and stock market links. Many of
the systems currently use a two digit date field to represent the date, and
unless these systems are changed or modified, they may not be able to
distinguish the Year 1900 from the Year 2000 (commonly referred to as the Year
2000 problem). In addition, the fact that the Year 2000 is a leap year may
create difficulties for some systems.
When the Year 2000 arrives, the fund's operations could be adversely affected if
the computer systems used by the Investment Manager, its service providers and
other third parties it does business with are not Year 2000 ready. For example,
the fund's portfolio and operational areas could be impacted, including
securities trade processing, interest and dividend payments, securities pricing,
shareholder account services, reporting, custody functions and others. The fund
could experience difficulties in effecting transactions if any of its foreign
subcustodians, or if foreign broker-dealers or foreign markets are not ready for
Year 2000.
The Investment Manager and its affiliated service providers are making a
concerted effort to take steps they believe are reasonably designed to address
their Year 2000 problems. Of course, the fund's ability to reduce the effects of
the Year 2000 problem is also very much dependent upon the efforts of third
parties over which the fund and its Investment Manager may have no control.
V. Under "How Is the Trust Organized?", the first paragraph is replaced with the
following:
Each fund is a diversified series of the Trust, an open-end management
investment company, commonly called a mutual fund. The Trust was organized as a
Delaware business trust on December 21, 1993, and is registered with the SEC.
Each fund offers three classes of shares: Templeton Greater European Fund -
Class A, Templeton Greater European Fund - Class C and Templeton Greater
European Fund - Advisor Class, Templeton Latin America Fund - Class A, Templeton
Latin America Fund - Class C and Templeton Latin America Fund - Advisor Class.
Additional series and classes of shares may be offered in the future.
VI. In the section "Sales Charge Waivers," found under "How Do I Buy Shares? -
Sales Charge Reductions and Waivers," the second waiver category is replaced
with the following:
2. Redemption proceeds from the sale of shares of any Franklin Templeton Fund.
The proceeds must be reinvested in the same class of shares, except proceeds
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from the sale of Class B shares will be reinvested in Class A shares.
If you paid a Contingent Deferred Sales Charge when you sold your Class A or C
shares, we will credit your account with the amount of the Contingent Deferred
Sales Charge paid but a new Contingent Deferred Sales Charge will apply. For
Class B shares reinvested in Class A, a new Contingent Deferred Sales Charge
will not apply, although your account will not be credited with the amount of
any Contingent Deferred Sales Charge paid when you sold your Class B shares.
Proceeds immediately placed in a Franklin Bank CD also may be reinvested without
a front-end sales charge if you reinvest them within 365 days from the date the
CD matures, including any rollover.
This waiver does not apply to shares you buy and sell under our exchange
program. Shares purchased with proceeds from a money fund may be subject to a
sales charge.
VII. In the section "Exchange Restrictions," found under "May I Exchange Shares
for Shares of Another Fund?", the third bulleted item is replaced with the
following:
/bullet/ Generally exchanges may only be made between identically registered
accounts, unless you send written instructions with a signature
guarantee. You may, however, exchange shares from a fund account
requiring two or more signatures into an identically registered money
fund account requiring only one signature for all transactions. PLEASE
NOTIFY US IN WRITING IF YOU DO NOT WANT THIS OPTION TO BE AVAILABLE ON
YOUR ACCOUNT. Additional procedures may apply. Please see "Transaction
Procedures and Special Requirements."
VIII. In the "By Phone" section of the chart under "How Do I Sell Shares?",
(a) the first bulleted item is replaced with the following:
/bullet/ If the request is $100,000 or less. Institutional accounts may exceed
$100,000 by completing a separate agreement. Call Institutional
Services to receive a copy.
(b) and the third bulleted item is deleted.
IX. Distribution option 3 in the section "What Distributions Might I Receive
From the Funds? - Distribution Options" is replaced with the following:
3. RECEIVE DISTRIBUTIONS IN CASH - You may receive capital gain distributions,
dividend distributions, or both in cash. If you have the money sent to another
person or to a checking or savings account, you may need a signature guarantee.
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If you send the money to a checking or savings account, please see "Electronic
Fund Transfers" under "Services to Help You Manage Your Account."
X. Under "Transaction Procedures and Special Requirements:"
(a) the section "Joint Accounts" is replaced with the following:
JOINT ACCOUNTS. For accounts with more than one registered owner, the fund
accepts written instructions signed by only one owner for transactions and
account changes that could otherwise be made by phone. For all other
transactions and changes, all registered owners must sign the instructions.
Please keep in mind that if you have previously told us that you do not want
telephone exchange or redemption privileges on your account, then we can only
accept written instructions to exchange or redeem shares if they are signed by
all registered owners on the account.
(b) the reference to $50,000 in the section "Signature Guarantees" is replaced
with $100,000.
(c) and the section "Trust Company Retirement Plan Accounts," found under
"Telephone Transactions," is deleted.
XI. In the section "Services to Help You Manage Your Account:"
(a) the second sentence in the section "Automatic Investment Plan" is replaced
with the following:
Under the plan, you can have money transferred automatically from your checking
or savings account to the fund each month to buy additional shares.
(b) the second paragraph under "Systematic Withdrawal Plan" is replaced with the
following:
If you would like to establish a systematic withdrawal plan, please complete the
systematic withdrawal plan section of the shareholder application included with
this prospectus and indicate how you would like to receive your payments. You
may choose to direct your payments to buy the same class of shares of another
Franklin Templeton Fund or have the money sent directly to you, to another
person, or to a checking or savings account. If you choose to have the money
sent to a checking or savings account, please see "Electronic Fund Transfers"
below. Once your plan is established, any distributions paid by the fund will be
automatically reinvested in your account.
(c) the following new section is added after the section "Systematic Withdrawal
Plan":
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ELECTRONIC FUND TRANSFERS
You may choose to have dividend and capital gain distributions or payments under
a systematic withdrawal plan sent directly to a checking or savings account. If
the account is with a bank that is a member of the Automated Clearing House, the
payments may be made automatically by electronic funds transfer. If you choose
this option, please allow at least fifteen days for initial processing. We will
send any payments made during that time to the address of record on your
account.
(d) the third bulleted item in the section "TeleFACTS(R)" is replaced with the
following:
/bullet/ exchange shares (within the same class) between identically
registered Franklin Templeton Class A, B or C accounts; and
XII. In the "Useful Terms and Definitions" section, the definition of "Class I,
Class II and Advisor Class" is replaced with the following:
CLASS A, CLASS C AND ADVISOR CLASS - Each fund offers three classes of shares,
designated "Class A" "Class C" and "Advisor Class." The three classes have
proportionate interests in the fund's portfolio. They differ, however, primarily
in their sales charge structures and Rule 12b-1 plans. Certain funds in the
Franklin Templeton Funds also offer a class of shares designated "Class B."
Please keep this supplement for future reference.
