NASD Announcement of Knight as New Legal Officer

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF SECURITIES DEALERS, INC.

[2] Knight's responsibilities will include providing legal counsel to senior management and overseeing the quality of legal services across the organization. He will be a member of the NASD's Office of the Chairman. As CLO, Mr. Knight will work closely with the general counsels of the NASD, The Nasdaq Stock Market[R] and NASD Regulation[R].

[3] "We are extremely pleased that Ed is bringing his vast national and international legal experience to the NASD family of companies," said Frank G. Zarb, Chairman and CEO of the NASD. "The impressive breadth of his experience and expertise across so many different agencies of the federal government and internationally will mean that our members, issuers, and the investing public will be well protected and advised by his counsel."

[4] Knight has served as General Counsel of the Treasury Department since September 1994. In that capacity, he has provided legal and policy advice to the Secretary of the Treasury and other top Department officials. He has overseen 2,200 attorneys providing legal service to all of the Department's offices and bureaus, including the Internal Revenue Service, Customs, Secret Service, Public Debt, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Financial Management Service, the U.S. Mint, and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

[5] In the fall of 1998, Mr. Knight was critically involved in the provision of bilateral financial assistance from the United States to the government of Brazil through the Bank for International Settlements. In July 1998, Knight led the legal team that successfully privatized the U.S. Enrichment Corporation -- the largest privatization in U.S. history. In May 1996, he was appointed by President Clinton to the National Commission on Restructuring the Internal Revenue Service. He has testified before Congress on numerous occasions.

[6] Prior to joining the Treasury Department, Knight was a partner with the law firm of Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld in its Washington, D.C., office.

[7] Born in Amarillo, Texas, on January 20, 1951, Knight received his B.A. in Latin American Studies, with honors, from the University or Texas at Austin and his J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 1976.

[8] The NASD is the largest securities-industry, self- regulatory organization in the United States and parent organization or NASD Regulation, Inc., and The Nasdaq-Amex Market Group[R]. 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 Group, the NASD operates The Nasdaq Stock Market and the American Stock Exchange (Amex.[R]). 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.

[9] 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- AmexNewsroom[R] at http://www.nasdaq-amexnews.com.