New York, May 22, 2006 — The NASDAQ Stock Market today announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Zhejiang Province Financial Affairs Office, based in Hangzhou, China and the Jiangsu Province Economic and Trade Commission, based in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. Both signing ceremonies took place in New York - Zhejiang on May 9th and Jiangsu on May 19th.

The memoranda envisage promoting the development of the financial services market in the two Chinese provinces, as well as providing opportunities for companies from Zhejiang and Jiangsu in the United States. NASDAQ and both provinces have agreed to exchange information, conduct training programs and provide capital raising opportunities to promote the growth of Zhejiang and Jiangsu based companies in China and overseas. Both provinces have also agreed that NASDAQ will be the preferred stock exchange for Zhejiang and Jiangsu companies when listing in the United States.

NASDAQ already has a strong presence in China. There are currently 28 Chinese companies listed on NASDAQ with a market cap of $734 million.

Charlotte Crosswell, Head of NASDAQ International said, "these two MOUs will further enhance the links between NASDAQ and China and will serve to provide an increasingly effective forum for exchange of views and ideas going forward."

NASDAQ is the largest U.S. electronic stock market. With approximately 3,200 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. 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/.

# # #

Media Contact:
Harriet Benson
+44 20 7825 5544