REUTERS CHAIRMAN URGES FREER INFORMATION FLOWS
  Exchanges and telecommunications
  authorities should abolish their restrictions on full and free
  dissemination of information to the investment and banking
  communities, Reuters Holdings Plc <RTRS.L> chairman Sir
  Christopher Hogg said.
      In the 1986 annual repoprt, he said lengthy negotiations
  had brought agreement with the Tokyo and London Stock Exchanges
  for fuller, but still not complete, access to market data
  through Reuter services.
      "Many other markets maintain restrictions," he added.
      Hogg said members of some markets appear to believe that
  information restrictions protected their interests.
      In other cases, exchanges seem to be limiting the
  distribution of data in order to provide competitive advantage
  to their own commercial information businesses.
      He also noted that despite increasing liberalisation in the
  telecommunications field, some countries continue to protect
  their state monopolies at the expense of other economic
  sectors.
      "Reuter dealing services remain excluded from such
  countries. As a result, banking communities serving entire
  economies are put at a competitive disadvantage," he added.
      Reuters increased its 1986 pre-tax profit by 39 pct from
  the previous year to 130.1 mln stg on a 43 pct rise in revenues
  to 620.9 mln stg.
      Earnings per ordinary share were up 47 pct to 19.4p. The
  annual shareholder meeting will be held in London on April 29.