Investment in Nasdaq Europe

Banco Santander Central Hispano SA
8 June 2001


                 Eight major market participants agree to investment 
                                 in Nasdaq Europe

                      Nasdaq Europe's trading system goes live

London: Nasdaq Europe S.A/N.V (SM) today announces that eight major financial
institutions and market participants have agreed to take equity stakes in the
company. Bernard L Madoff, BNP Paribas, CSFB, Fortis Bank, Goldman Sachs, Lehman
Brothers, Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, and Santander Central Hispano
Investment have all agreed to become investors in the new European stock
exchange. In addition. Knight Trading Group is already a significant investor.
The Company expects further key investors to join this group.

The involvement of these companies represents a significant step in the
development of Nasdaq Europe as it works to build liquidity and market share in
order to help realise Nasdaq's objective of becoming a major part of the
European market place.

Separately, Nasdaq Europe's European Trading System (ETS), which offers similar
functionality to the current Nasdaq Stock Market (SM) adapted to the regional
needs of the European market, started operating today.

Jim Weber, Chief Operating Officer of Nasdaq Europe, said: 'Nasdaq Europe is
taking shape extremely quickly. US equities can now be traded in European
trading hours; the new trading system is now live and today we welcome eight
blue chip investors. These eight highly regarded institutions share our vision
of global equity trading and we look forward to working with them over the
coming months as Nasdaq Europe builds market share and liquidity.'

Roger Nagioff, Co-Head of Global Equity for Lehman Brothers commented, 'Lehman
Brothers believe that Nasdaq Europe will become an important part of the
financial community. Its brand and track record, together with Knight, have
impressive credentials in this area of the marketplace'.

'We are very pleased to be a part of this innovative initiative. We believe it
should play a significant positive role in the evolution of the global
marketplace', added Bernard L. Madoff, chairman of Madoff Securities.

 
Contacts:

Nasdaq Europe                          Maggie Kelly/Fiona MacRae 
                                       Tel.+ 44(0) 207 374 6969

Citigate Dewe Rogerson                 Patrick Donovan/Simon Rigby
                                       Tel.+ 44(0) 207 638 9571

Bernard L. Madoff                      David Berkowitz 
                                       Tel.+ 212 230 2476

BNP Paribas                            Jonathan Mullen 
                                       Tel.+ (0) 207 595 2773

CSFB                                   Maria Marinos 
                                       Tel.[phone]

Fortis Bank                            Frederic VAN GHELUWE 
                                       Tel.+ 32 2 565 15 00

Knight Trading Group                   Kirsten Schmidt 
                                       Tel.+ 44(0) 207 997 7373

Lehman Brothers                        Richard Parkhouse 
                                       Tel.+ 44 (0) 207 260 1339

Schroder Salomon Smith Barney          James O'Donnell 
                                       Tel.+ 44 (0) 207 986 1200

Santander Central Hispano Investment   Juan Manuel San Roman
                                       Tel. + 34 91 7019331


Notes to editors

Nasdaq Europe, which is a subsidiary of The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc has been
designed as a truly pan-European exchange. Its unique structure and independence
from any national market place make it a perfect fit for innovative companies
and forward looking investors across Europe and beyond. The market operates on a
pan-European basis, with a unified infrastructure including a single Rule Book,
a single membership, a dedicated trading platform, and a seamless link to
cross-border trading and settlement. For further information please visit
www.nasdaqeurope.com

Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) is a leading global investment bank serving
institutional, corporate, government and individual clients. CSFB's businesses
include securities underwriting, sales and trading, investment banking, private
equity, financial advisory services, investment research, venture capital,
correspondent brokerage services and retail online brokerage services. It
operates in over 87 locations across more than 39 countries on 6 continents, and
has some 28,000 staff worldwide. The Firm is a business unit of the Zurich based
Credit Suisse Group, a leading global financial services company. For more
information on Credit Suisse First Boston, please visit our website at
http://www.csfb.com.

Lehman Brothers (ticker symbol NYSE:LEH), an innovator in global finance, serves
the financial needs of corporations, governments and municipalities,
institutional clients, and high-net-worth individuals worldwide. Founded in
1850, Lehman Brothers maintains leadership positions in equity and fixed income
sales, trading and research, investment banking, private equity and private
client services. The Firm is headquartered in New York, London, and Tokyo and
operates through a network of offices around the world. For further information
about Lehman Brothers' services, products and recruitment opportunities, visit
our Web site at www.lehman.com.

Schroder Salomon Smith Barney is the new division of Citigroup formed by the May
2000 purchase of Schroders investment banking business by Salomon Smith Barney
(SSB). The Schroder Salomon Smith Barney name now encompasses a full investment
banking and securities brokerage business, primarily in Europe. The Firm employs
around 3,500 professionals in Europe, who are based in the Firm's European
headquarters in London and offices in Amsterdam, Budapest, Dublin, Frankfurt,
Geneva, Lisbon, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Warsaw and Zurich, ('Schroder' is
a trademark of Schroder Holdings PLC and is used under licence by Salomon Smith
Barney.)

Banco Santander Central Hispano is Spain's leading financial group, with
US$407.2 billion in total managed funds, and it provides services to 36 million
customers in 42 countries around the world through more than 10,000 offices. It
is a bank of reference in Europe, where it is one of the three largest by market
capitalization in the Euro zone. The Group is also the largest financial
services franchise in Latin America, with more than US$115 billion in assets and
an average market share of 10%.

Investor Relations Department
Plaza de Canalejas, 1 - 5th Floor, 28014 Madrid 
Phone: [phone]/2040/1370 
Fax:   [phone]