NASD and Japan's Softbank Agree to Create Nasdaq-Japan Electronic Stock Market Targeted to Open Fourth Quarter 2000

The National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD®), have signed an agreement in Tokyo with Softbank Corporation, jointly capitalizing a new company-Nasdaq-Japan-that will plan the development and implementation of a new electronic stock market in Japan, which is targeted to begin operating in the fourth quarter of 2000. Nasdaq-Japan will be built upon The Nasdaq Stock Market® screen-based approach to trading equity securities and will include the Internet as a key conduit to provide a state-of-the-art electronic stock market. The new market will offer Japanese investors the opportunity to invest in the world's leading high-tech and high-growth stocks, and will provide enhanced access to equity capital for emerging Japanese firms. Frank G. Zarb, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NASD, commented, "It is a natural marriage coming at just the right time. With the leadership of our strong Japanese partner, Softbank, we will utilize the power of the Internet to create an equity market that stimulates job creation and economic growth. Together, Softbank and Nasdaq® bring the experience, know-how and technology to offer the Japanese investor the ability to trade many of the world's leading stocks, while offering a market on which emerging Japanese companies can find equity financing. Masayoshi Son, Chairman and Chief Executive of Softbank, noted, "Nasdaq's experience in creating the world's most advanced stock market will enable us to build a stock market for Japan that will stimulate capital growth and entrepreneurial activity that has long been dormant. The liquidity and transparency of the system that we will establish jointly in Japan will create a new standard for global financial interconnectedness that presents Japanese investors with an unprecedented range of opportunities." Nasdaq-Japan will launch an innovative market structure that builds off the instant liquidity inherent in the Nasdaq Market Maker model, while offering depth and transparency through the aggregation of orders. The market will be designed to offer around-the-clock electronic trading, assuring nearly unbroken access to the major investment opportunities on Nasdaq-Japan and its linked affiliates. The market will provide the Japanese investor with the opportunity to invest in the world's high growth stocks. NASD and Softbank anticipate the opportunity to trade all Nasdaq listed stocks, index products such as the Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking StockSM (symbol QQQ), and high-growth Japanese companies that choose to list on Nasdaq-Japan. The Market Makers that will provide the electronic market for Nasdaq-Japan will be a group of the leading Japanese and U.S. securities firms. Discussions with major firms have begun to establish the initial core group of Market Maker firms. Nasdaq-Japan will be a private, for-profit organization, owned equally by the NASD and Softbank. The parties envision incremental equity participation from the major Japanese and American financial firms in this venture. Nasdaq-Japan will draw heavily on local resources and will be led by a Japanese chief executive officer. Softbank and NASD are dedicated to the highest levels of market integrity and investor protection. The market will use the latest in oversight and surveillance technology to guarantee integrity and fairness for all market participants and comply strictly with Japanese regulatory requirements. The market is expected to offer the following benefits: A transparent, liquid, efficient, easily accessed and well-regulated market; Access for issuers to pools of capital linked on a global basis by creating seamless electronic access between Nasdaq-Japan and financial interests in other countries; The opportunity for Japanese investors to invest in many of Nasdaq's listed stocks, Japanese high-growth technology stocks that choose to list, as well as structured products such as Nasdaq-100 Index Tracking StockSM; The opportunity for U.S. investors to invest in Japanese firms through dual listings of companies on both Nasdaq-Japan and The Nasdaq Stock Market; and A contribution to job creation and economic growth in Japan through an efficient market that links investors and entrepreneurs. The NASD is the largest securities-industry, self-regulatory organization in the United States and parent organization of NASD Regulation, Inc., and The Nasdaq-Amex Market Group, Inc. Through its regulatory subsidiary, the NASD develops rules and regulations, provides a dispute resolution forum, and conducts regulatory reviews of member activities for the protection and benefit of investors. Through the Nasdaq-Amex Market GroupSM, the NASD operates The Nasdaq Stock Market and the American Stock Exchange (Amex®). The NASD also oversees the nation's 5,600 brokerage firms and more than half-a-million registered brokers. Consumers can contact the NASD to obtain the disciplinary and work histories, as well as other selected background information, of member firms and individual brokers or to get information on how to lodge a complaint. For more information about the NASD and its subsidiaries, please visit the following Web sites: http://www.nasd.com; http://www.nasdaq-amex.com; http://www.nasdr.com; or the Nasdaq-Amex NewsroomSM at http://www.nasdaq-amexnews.com. Softbank Corporation of Tokyo is a leading provider of information and distribution services for the digital information industry. As Japan's largest distributor of software and computer technology publications, Softbank has stakes in more than 60 Internet-related companies. Softbank owns approximately 51 percent of Yahoo Japan Corporation (JOTC: 4689), 60 percent of GeoCities Japan, 100 percent of ZDNet Japan, 50 percent of broadcast.com Japan, 60 percent of ONSALE Japan, 50 percent of CarPoint Japan, 53 percent of InsWeb Japan, 60 percent of E-Loan Japan, as well as 58 percent E*TRADE Japan. In the United States, Softbank owns approximately 69 percent of Ziff-Davis Inc. (NYSE:ZD), 26 percent of Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:Yahoo), 80 percent of Kingston Technology and 27 percent of E*Trade Group Inc. (EGRP). For more information about Softbank, please visit the following Web site: http://www.softbank.com. For further information on this announcement, a special announcement Web site has been created at the following address: http://www.nasdaq-japan.com.