FFC and FLC Announce Delay in Payment of September Dividends

  
    
  
  
    
      The Boards of Directors of Flaherty & Crumrine/Claymore Preferred 
      Securities Income Fund Incorporated (NYSE: FFC) and Flaherty & 
      Crumrine/Claymore Total Return Fund Incorporated (NYSE: FLC) have 
      announced a delay in the payment of the monthly dividends for the month 
      of September.
    
    
      Under the terms of the Funds’ Articles 
      Supplementary Establishing and Fixing the Rights and Preferences of the 
      Auction Market Preferred Stock, certain asset coverage requirements must 
      be met before dividends can be declared or paid to common stock 
      shareholders. For the reasons set forth below, these asset coverage 
      requirements have not been met, so the Funds may not pay the dividends 
      originally scheduled to be paid on September 30, 2008. At the time the 
      dividends were declared on September 2, 2008, the Funds had met their 
      asset coverage requirements.
    
    
      The September dividend will be paid as soon as practicable after the 
      asset coverage requirements are met, which cannot be predicted given 
      current market conditions for the securities in which the Funds invest. 
      The delay in the payments will be continued until asset coverage can be 
      restored. In order to meet the asset coverage requirements, the Funds 
      may adjust their holdings (certain assets receive better asset coverage 
      treatment than others) and sell assets to raise cash. Proceeds from 
      asset sales may be invested in higher quality, lower yielding securities 
      or held in cash, or in some cases used to reduce leverage, to restore 
      the required level of asset coverage. If market values decline, 
      additional sales may be needed. If asset values move higher, the asset 
      coverage will improve and additional asset sales will not be required.
    
    
      The decline in the Funds’ asset coverage has 
      been the result of declining market values for the Funds’ 
      assets, which consist primarily of preferred securities. The market 
      values of preferred securities, along with most other fixed income 
      securities, have been experiencing substantial declines as a result of 
      the ongoing financial crisis. The uncertainty of a U.S. government 
      rescue plan has further disrupted the securities markets and the 
      valuations of the financial companies which are the primary issuers of 
      preferred securities. The Funds expect to continue to work towards 
      meeting asset coverage requirements on an ongoing basis so that the 
      September dividend can be paid and future dividends may be declared and 
      paid.
    
    
      FFC and FLC were organized in 2003 as closed-end, diversified 
      investment companies. FFC invests primarily in preferred 
      securities with an investment objective of high current income 
      consistent with preservation of capital. FLC invests primarily in 
      preferred and other income-producing securities with a primary 
      investment objective of high current income and a secondary objective of 
      capital appreciation. FFC and FLC are managed by Flaherty & 
      Crumrine Incorporated, an independent investment adviser which was 
      founded in 1983 to specialize in the management of portfolios of 
      preferred and related securities.
    
    
      Website: www.fcclaymore.com