NYSE Euronext Welcomes The Royal Bank of Scotland Group To The NYSE

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (“RBS”), a leading global financial services firm, today announced it will list its American Depository Receipts for trading on the New York Stock Exchange, a subsidiary of NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX) under the ticker symbol “RBS”. Trading on the NYSE will begin tomorrow on a “When Issued” basis (RBS WI ); regular way trading will begin on a date to be announced by the Exchange shortly.

RBS is listing on the NYSE now that its bid to acquire the outstanding ordinary share capital of ABN AMRO Holding N.V. (NYSE: ABN) has been declared unconditional.

“RBS is a leading global financial institution,” said John A. Thain, CEO of NYSE Euronext. “We are pleased to welcome RBS to our family of listed companies and look forward to an outstanding and long-lasting partnership with the company and its shareholders.”

RBS already has preferred shares trading on the NYSE.

Background on NYSE Euronext-Europe:

On its European markets, NYSE Euronext lists 1,065 companies from Europe with a total global market capitalization of $8.4 trillion (As of Sept, 30, 2007 ).


The NYSE lists 116 companies listed from Europe , with a total global market capitalization of $5.4 trillion (As of Sept. 30, 2007 ).


The total global market capitalization of the approx. 4,000 NYSE Euronext-listed companies is $30 trillion.


About The Royal Bank of Scotland Group, plc (NYSE: RBS)

RBS is one of the world's leading financial services companies providing a range of retail and corporate banking, financial markets, consumer finance, insurance, and wealth management services. RBS Group operates in Europe , the US and Asia Pacific serving more than 36 million personal customers world-wide and employing 135,000 people. In addition to the provision of a full range of banking services under The Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest brands, RBS also includes Citizens Financial Group, Ulster Bank, Coutts Group, Direct Line and Churchill.



About NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX)

NYSE Euronext, a holding company created by the combination of NYSE Group, Inc. and Euronext N.V., commenced trading on April 4, 2007 . NYSE Euronext (NYSE Euronext: NYX) operates the world’s largest and most liquid exchange group and offers the most diverse array of financial products and services. NYSE Euronext, which brings together six cash equities exchanges in five countries and six derivatives exchanges in six countries, is a world leader for listings, trading in cash equities, equity and interest rate derivatives, bonds and the distribution of market data. Representing a combined $30.8 trillion/€22.8 trillion total market capitalization of listed companies and average daily trading value of approximately $127.0 billion/€94.0 billion (as of June 29, 2007), NYSE Euronext seeks to provide the highest standards of market quality and integrity, innovative products and services to investors, issuers, and all users of its markets.

New York Stock Exchange To Delay Trading on the American Depositary Shares of Tele Norte Leste Participações S.A.

The New York Stock Exchange announced that trading in the American Depositary Shares of Tele Norte Leste Participações S.A. -- ticker symbol TNE -- will be delayed because the offer to purchase the American Depositary Shares of Tele Norte Leste Participações S.A. by Telemar Participações S.A. is set to expire today at 10.00 a.m. The delay will be in effect until the results of the offer to purchase by Telemar Participações S.A. are published.


About NYSE Euronext
NYSE Euronext, a holding company created by the combination of NYSE Group, Inc. and Euronext N.V., commenced trading on April 4, 2007 . NYSE Euronext (NYSE Euronext: NYX) operates the world’s largest and most liquid exchange group and offers the most diverse array of financial products and services. NYSE Euronext, which brings together six cash equities exchanges in five countries and six derivatives exchanges in six countries, is a world leader for listings, trading in cash equities, equity and interest rate derivatives, bonds and the distribution of market data. Representing a combined $30.8 trillion/€22.8 trillion total market capitalization of listed companies and average daily trading value of approximately $127.0 billion/€94.0 billion (as of June 29, 2007), NYSE Euronext seeks to provide the highest standards of market quality and integrity, innovative products and services to investors, issuers, and all users of its markets.

SEC Charges New York Hedge Fund Adviser With Short Sale Violations in Connection With Hibernia-Capital One Merger

The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced a settled enforcement action against New York hedge fund adviser Sandell Asset Management Corp. (SAM), its chief executive officer, and two other employees for engaging in improper short sales in connection with trading in the securities of Hibernia Corporation in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Hibernia was a New Orleans-based bank holding company and the subject of an acquisition agreement with Capital One Financial Corporation at the time Katrina occurred. As part of its merger arbitrage investment strategy, SAM held a large long position in Hibernia. According to the Commission's Order, SAM personnel believed that Capital One would lower its offering price for Hibernia shares in the wake of Katrina. In an attempt to offset an anticipated loss to a client, SAM personnel began to sell short as many shares of Hibernia stock as possible, improperly marking certain sales orders as "long" or misrepresenting to the broker-dealers executing some of the trades that they had located stock to borrow.

"Today's action is part of our ongoing effort to ensure that hedge funds comply with the federal securities laws, including all applicable trading rules," said Linda Chatman Thomsen, Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement.

Scott W. Friestad, Associate Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, added, "By mismarking certain trades and falsely claiming that firm personnel had located stock to borrow, Sandell Asset Management gained an unfair trading advantage over other market participants. This settlement deprives the firm of the profits made from the improper trading, and includes penalties and other sanctions designed to deter others from engaging in similar misconduct."

Without admitting or denying the Commission's findings, SAM agreed to pay more than $8 million to settle the charges, including $6,716,683.93 in disgorgement, $730,811.74 in prejudgment interest, and a $650,000 civil penalty. Also charged were the firm's CEO Thomas Sandell, senior managing director Patrick Burke, and head trader Richard Ecklord, all of whom consented to the Commission's Order without admitting or denying wrongdoing. Sandell, Burke and Ecklord were ordered to pay civil penalties of $100,000, $50,000 and $40,000, respectively.

The Commission's Order finds that, after the Hibernia-Capital One merger was announced on March 6, 2005, SAM purchased approximately 9.3 million shares of Hibernia stock for one of the firm's hedge fund clients. Thereafter, SAM sold the Hibernia shares to third parties and entered into "swap" transactions with them. The hedge fund managed by SAM no longer owned the Hibernia shares, but retained all of the economic risk of loss if the price of the shares declined.

On Aug. 29, 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, where Hibernia was headquartered and maintained substantial assets. On Aug. 31, 2005, in its effort to offset a potential loss to its client, SAM personnel improperly marked certain sales orders as "long" even though they were, in fact, short. On Sept. 2, 2005, SAM personnel made some additional short sales by representing to the broker-dealers executing the trades that they had located stock to borrow, when in fact they had not. The Commission's Order finds that the Aug. 31 trades violated Section 10(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Exchange Act Rule 10a-1 and that the Sept. 2 trades violated Section 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933.

The Commission's Order censures each of the respondents and orders SAM to cease and desist from committing or causing future violations of Section 17(a)(2) of the Securities Act.


Additional materials: Administrative Proceeding 33-8857

NASDAQ Introduces the Q-50 Index

The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (Nasdaq:NDAQ) announced today the introduction of the NASDAQ Q-50 Index(sm), an innovative tool to track the securities that are next eligible for inclusion in the world-renowned NASDAQ-100 Index(r). NASDAQ began disseminating the NASDAQ Q-50 Index today.

The Index is comprised of 50 non-financial securities ranked by market capitalization. They reflect companies across major industry groups including computer hardware and software, telecommunications, retail/wholesale trade, and biotechnology.

"The NASDAQ Q-50 Index is a new benchmark for some of the world's most up-and-coming growth companies," said NASDAQ Senior Vice President Steven Bloom. "The Index arms investors with a portfolio of some of NASDAQ's fastest growing companies in a diverse range of industries. The launch of the NASDAQ Q-50 Index represents a significant extension of NASDAQ's success in bringing attention to its largest and most liquid innovative growth companies."

Securities in the NASDAQ Q-50 Index are next eligible for inclusion in the NASDAQ-100 Index, a globally recognized benchmark that is the basis of more than 500 investment products in 36 countries. The NASDAQ Q-50 Index is a price return index (Nasdaq:NXTQ), which is ordinarily calculated without regard to cash dividends on index securities. The Index commenced calculation today with a value of 150.00.

NASDAQ Financial Products (NFP) is engaged in the design, development, calculation, licensing, and marketing of NASDAQ indexes. NFP specializes in the development of indexes focusing on NASDAQ's brand themes of innovation, technology, growth, and globalization. NFP also provides custom index services and design solutions as a third-party provider to selected financial organizations. For more information about NASDAQ's indexes, visit www.nasdaq.com/indexes.

About NASDAQ

NASDAQ is the largest U.S. equities exchange. With approximately 3,100 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, trades more shares per day than any other U.S. market. It is home to companies that are leaders across all areas of business including technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media and biotechnology. NASDAQ is the primary market for trading NASDAQ-listed stocks as well as a leading liquidity pool for trading NYSE-listed stocks. For more information about NASDAQ, visit the NASDAQ Web site at www.nasdaq.com

SEC Takes Another Bite Out of E-Mail Spam With Three More Trading Suspensions

The Securities and Exchange Commission this morning continued its assault on stock market e-mail spam by suspending trading in the securities of three companies that haven't provided adequate and accurate information about themselves to the investing public.

The trading suspensions are part of the Commission's Anti-Spam Initiative announced earlier this year that cuts the profit potential for stock-touting spam and is credited for a significant worldwide reduction of financial spam. A recent private-sector Internet security report stated that a 30 percent decrease in stock market spam "was triggered by actions taken by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which limited the profitability of this type of spam."

In addition, spam-related complaints to the SEC's Online Complaint Center have been cut in half.



"The SEC is moving aggressively against stock market spam that has been clogging our e-mail inboxes for too long," said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. "Because of our aggressive enforcement efforts, there has been a reported 30 percent drop in financial spam, and that means fewer investors are getting ripped off."

Since the March 8, 2007 launch of its Anti-Spam Initiative to combat spam-driven stock market manipulations, the Commission has suspended trading in the securities of 39 companies and has brought several spam-related enforcement actions.

Mark K. Schonfeld, Director of the Commission's New York Regional Office, said, "Today's trading suspensions exemplify our firm commitment to protecting investors from stock fraud and spam e-mail. Investors are entitled to accurate and adequate information about public companies, and we will take strong action promptly when companies fail to fulfill this obligation."

Today's trading suspensions pertain to the securities of Alliance Transcription Services, Inc. (ATSS), Prime Petroleum Group, Inc. (PPGU), and T.W. Christian, Inc. (TWCI). The companies are recent successors to Strategy X, Inc., Pinnacle Development, Inc. and Xraymedia, Inc., respectively. Each of the companies changed its name on Aug. 14, 2007, is currently quoted under a new ticker symbol, and purports to have a new business. The companies, all of which trade on the Pink Sheets, are susceptible to spam stock promotions because they have inadequately disclosed their assets, business operations and/or management, their current financial condition, and/or financing arrangements involving the issuance of the companies' shares.

The trading suspensions will last for 10 business days, commencing today at 9:30 a.m. EDT and terminating at 11:59 p.m. EDT on Oct. 17, 2007.

The success of the SEC's Anti-Spam initiative is described in the Symantec Internet Security Threat Report, a semi-annual analysis and discussion of online threat activity during the previous six-month period. The most recent report was released Sept. 17, 2007: http://www.symantec.com/threatreport. The SEC's efforts are cited on page 107 of the report

"Spam related to financial services made up 21 percent of all spam in the first six months of 2007, making it the second most common type of spam during this period. The previous edition of the Internet Security Threat Report reported that Symantec had detected an increase in spam related to the financial services sector over the last six months of 2006. This was primarily due to an abundance of stock market "pump and dump" spam. However, in the current period, there has been a 30 percent decline in this type of spam from the previous period. This is due to a decline in spam touting penny stocks that was triggered by actions taken by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, which limited the profitability of this type of spam by suspending trading of the stocks that are touted."

The SEC Division of Enforcement's Online Complaint Center similarly indicates a 30 percent decrease in spam-related complaints during the same 12-month period, with complaints dropping from more than one million complaints during the final six months of 2006 to 727,313 during the first 6 months of 2007. Moreover, while the Online Complaint Center received 166,741 complaints in February 2007 before the SEC unveiled its anti-spam initiative in March, the number of complaints about financial spam dropped to 67,785 last month - a nearly 60 percent decrease.

The Online Complaint Center can be reached at enforcement@sec.gov. The SEC's Office of Investor Education and Assistance has information for investors and members of the general public on topics directly related to this action by the SEC. See http://www.sec.gov/investor/35tradingsuspensions.htm for a compilation of helpful links.

Any broker, dealer or other person with information relating to this matter is invited to e-mail the Securities and Exchange Commission at 35suspensions@sec.gov.

SEC Online Complaint Center Data:

Month Complaints
June 2006 118,741
July 2006 121,531
Aug. 2006 165,434
Sept. 2006 128,811
Oct. 2006 178,657
Nov. 2006 220,486
Dec. 2006 221,036
Jan. 2007 163,522
Feb. 2007 166,741
March 2007 127,465
April 2007 111,382
May 2007 88,236
June 2007 69,967
July 2007 86,759
Aug. 2007 84,222
Sept. 2007 67,785

NASDAQ to Acquire Boston Stock Exchange and Key Exchange Assets

The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc. (NASDAQ(r)) (Nasdaq:NDAQ), today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the Boston Stock Exchange (BSE), including the holding company (BSE Group), the Boston Equities Exchange (BEX), the Boston Stock Exchange Clearing Corporation (BSECC), and BOX Regulation (BOXR). Along with these businesses, NASDAQ will acquire an SRO (Self-Regulatory Organization) license for trading both equities and options. NASDAQ's acquisition of the BSE Group is valued at approximately $61 million.

NASDAQ will not acquire an interest in the Boston Options Exchange (BOX) from the BSE. However, a regulatory framework for the BOX market will remain in place. NASDAQ, through BOXR, will operate the regulatory services provider to the BOX, which is an options trading facility of the BSE. NASDAQ and BOX are discussing a plan regarding the future regulatory structure for BOX.

Bob Greifeld, President and Chief Executive Officer of NASDAQ, said, "NASDAQ is very focused on meeting the needs of its customers. This transaction provides added liquidity, new trading choices and an enhanced competitive market environment. NASDAQ's acquisition of the BSE will expand NASDAQ's execution offerings, and deliver user and investor benefits consistent with our Brut and INET acquisitions." Greifeld added, "We believe a second exchange license in both equities, and in the future options, will provide market structure flexibility as we continue to deliver on our mission of being the number one trading platform in the transactions business."

Upon approval of the transaction, NASDAQ will have the ability to offer a second quote within the U.S. equities marketplace. NASDAQ anticipates operating the BSE using its INET trading system.

Additionally, subject to SEC approval, NASDAQ anticipates utilization of the BSE Clearing Corporation.

NASDAQ Executive Vice President of Transaction Services, Chris Concannon commented, "This deal will allow our customers to better execute their trading strategies. From critical trading functionality, to crossing products, and risk management offerings, NASDAQ's second quote in NASDAQ, NYSE and AMEX-listed securities will arm our diverse customer base with more choices and competitive pricing options. Additionally, we are optimistic that the clearing business will provide valuable benefits for both NASDAQ and our customers over time."

As previously noted, NASDAQ anticipates organically launching The NASDAQ Options Market, a price/time priority options market in December 2007, subject to SEC approval.

The transaction is subject to SEC approval and approval by BSE members. NASDAQ & BSE's board of directors have approved the transaction, which is expected to close by early first quarter 2008. It is anticipated that the transaction will be accretive to NASDAQ shareholders within 12 months from closing.

NASDAQ will host an analyst and media briefing via teleconference today regarding this announcement. Senior management will be available for questions from journalists following brief remarks. Details are as follows:


Who: David Warren, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice
President, The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc.

Chris Concannon, Executive Vice President, Transaction
Services, The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc.

When: October 2, 2007 via Teleconference

Password: NASDAQ

Dial-in Details for Analyst/Investor Call:


Title: NASDAQ Conference Call
Start Time: 11:00 A.M. ET
Domestic dial-in: (866) 765-6327
International dial-in: (913) 312-6621

Dial-in Details for Media Call:


Title: NASDAQ Conference Call
Start Time: 11:45 A.M. ET (immediately following analyst
call)
Domestic dial-in: (866) 765-6327
International dial-in: (913) 312-6621

All participants can access the conference via Internet audio cast through the NASDAQ Investor Relations website at http://ir.nasdaq.com/.

An audio replay of the conference will be available on the NASDAQ Investor Relations website at http://ir.nasdaq.com/ or by dialing 888.203.1112 (U.S.) or 719.457.0820 (International) and the replay pass code 1146445

About NASDAQ

NASDAQ is the largest U.S. electronic stock market. With more than 3,100 companies, it lists more companies and, on average, its systems trade more shares per day than any other U.S. market. NASDAQ is home to companies that are leaders across all areas of business including technology, retail, communications, financial services, transportation, media and biotechnology. NASDAQ is the primary market for trading NASDAQ-listed stocks. For more information about NASDAQ, visit the NASDAQ Web site at http://www.nasdaq.com or the NASDAQ Newsroom at http://www.nasdaq.com/newsroom/.

About BSE

Founded in 1834 as the third oldest exchange in the U.S., the Boston Stock Exchange (BSE) has, from its beginnings, played a vital role as a leading exchange within the strongest capital market system in the world. Additional information can be found at www.bostonstock.com.

EBay Takes $1.43B Charge for Skype, Skype CEO Steps Down and Parent Company EBay Takes $1.43 Billion Charge

EBay Inc. announced Monday that the co-founder and chief executive of its Skype division was stepping down, and that the parent company would take $1.43 billion in charges for the Internet phone service division.

Of the charges to be taken in the current quarter, $900 million will be a write-down in the value of Skype, eBay said. That charge, for what accountants call impairment, essentially acknowledges that San Jose-based eBay, one of the world's largest e-commerce companies, drastically overvalued the $2.6 billion Skype acquisition, which was completed in October 2005.

EBay also said Monday it paid certain shareholders $530 million to settle future obligations.

In 2005, eBay wooed Skype investors by offering an "earn-out agreement" up to $1.7 billion if Skype hit specific targets -- including a number of active users and a gross profit -- in 2008 and the first half of 2009. The Skype shareholders holding those agreements received the $530 million in an early, one-time payout, eBay spokesman Hani Durzy said.

EBay also announced that Skype CEO Niklas Zennstrom will become non-executive chairman of Skype's board and likely spend more time working on independent projects.

Durzy said the resignation of Zennstrom, a Swedish entrepreneur who started Skype, was not related to the impairment charge or Skype's performance.

"Niklas left of his own volition," Durzy said. "He is an entrepreneur first and foremost, and he wanted to spend more time on some of his new projects that he has been working on."

Skype, which allows customers to place long-distance calls using their computers, reported second-quarter revenue of $89.13 million, up 102 percent from a year ago. It was the second consecutive quarter of profitability for the newest eBay division.

Zennstrom is likely to work on developing Joost, an Internet TV service he started in 2006 with Skype co-founder Janus Friis, relying on peer-to-peer technology to distribute TV shows and other videos over the Web.

Joost had at least 1 million beta testers in July and will launch at the end of the year, Zennstrom said earlier this summer.

One of the pair's first collaborations was the peer-to-peer file-sharing network KaZaA, which launched in March 2000 and is used primarily to swap MP3 music files over the Internet. Zennstrom also co-founded the peer-to-peer network Altnet and the venture capital firm Atomico.

EBay chief strategy officer Michael van Swaaij, formerly vice president for European operations, will serve as acting Skype CEO until a replacement is named. EBay hired Russell Reynolds Associates to search for replacements.

EBay also announced Skype President Henry Gomez will return to eBay as senior vice president for corporate affairs. Gomez was eBay senior vice president during his two years at Skype.