Working Groups On Extended-Trading Hours Submit Reports

The National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD®) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) today announced that three working groups have delivered reports on critical issues concerning extended trading hours. The working groups were established June 30, 1999, at a Summit called by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Arthur Levitt and sponsored by the NASD and NYSE. The reports have been posted on the NASD's and NYSE's respective Web sites, and the two self-regulatory organizations invite public comment through an electronic message mechanism found on the sites. The reports of the working groups provide recommendations on investor protection and education, clearance and settlement and operations issues, and trading conventions-key components of the widespread implementation of extended trading hours. A report by a fourth group on options trading is expected at a later date. "Extended hours are inevitable. As we've said previously, investors and other market participants would be best served if a majority of the industry moves to new hours in a coordinated fashion. I am sure that these reports will provide us with valuable ideas to use as we implement this change and evolve into the global digital stock markets of tomorrow," said Frank G. Zarb, Chairman and CEO of the NASD-parent of The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. "The entire marketplace, especially the investing public, stands to benefit from this valuable input as we move forward toward the broad-based implementation of extended trading hours," said NYSE Chairman and CEO Richard A. Grasso, who thanked the working groups for their recommendations. More information and the full text of the working groups' reports can be found on the NASD Web site at www.nasd.com and the New York Stock Exchange Web site at www.NYSE.com.