- ArcaEx Seeks to Bring Proven Open, Electronic, Value Proposition to Bond Marketplace -

- Archipelago Seeks to Build on Industry-Leading Technology and Connectivity to Further Multi-Product, Single Platform, Vision -

CHICAGO, Oct. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Archipelago Holdings, Inc. (PCX: AX), owner and operator of the Archipelago Exchange(SM) (ArcaEx(R)) today announced that the company intends to file a proposal with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to launch a corporate bond trading platform.

This proposed bond trading platform would allow users of ArcaEx to trade certain bonds listed on, or issued by companies listed by (US) markets and exchanges, through unlisted trading privileges. ArcaEx will initially focus on US exchange-listed corporate bonds.

"We believe the current state of bond trading offers ArcaEx the opportunity to bring its unique trading approach to drive new efficiencies to the marketplace," commented Archipelago President Mike Cormack. "Our entry into bond trading furthers our stated strategy of leveraging technology, connectivity and our solid relationships with our customers to trade multiple products over the ArcaEx platform."

Expected Bond Marketplace Operations

-- The Archipelago bond marketplace is expected to offer both limit and reserve orders ranging from at least one lot ($1000 face value) to a maximum order of 1,000,000 bonds (a $1 billion face value).

-- Bond orders would match on a price/time priority basis and would initially only interact within ArcaEx's internal liquidity.

-- ArcaEx plans on publishing a real time bond data feed that will include last sale information on ArcaBook(SM). ArcaBook can be obtained through a direct data feed from Archipelago.

-- The bond marketplace hours of operation are expected to be 4:00 am ET - 8:00 pm ET.

-- The marketplace is expected to conduct two daily bond auctions -- an opening session auction at 4:00 am ET and core session auction at 9:30 am ET.

Pending regulatory approvals, Archipelago has targeted late Q4 2005 to introduce its bond trading capabilities.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on Archipelago's current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause Archipelago's actual results to differ materially from those set forth in the statements. There can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Factors that could cause Archipelago's results to differ materially from current expectations include: general economic and business conditions, industry trends, competitive conditions, regulatory developments as well as other risks or factors identified in the Company's filings with the Securities Exchange Commission, including its Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2004 which is available on the Company's website at http://www.archipelago.com. You should not place undue reliance on forward- looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except for any obligation to disclose material information under the Federal securities laws, Archipelago undertakes no obligation to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release.

About Archipelago

Archipelago Holdings, Inc. (PCX: AX) owns and operates the Archipelago Exchange (ArcaEx). ArcaEx is the first totally open all-electronic stock market in the United States. Through ArcaEx, Archipelago customers can trade over 8,000 equity securities, including securities listed on the New York Stock Exchange(R), Nasdaq(R), American Stock Exchange(R) and ArcaEx(R). The Archipelago ECN, a precursor to ArcaEx, was one of the four original ECNs, formed in December 1996 with Townsend Analytics.

Contact
Margaret Nagle
312-442-7083
Web site: http://www.archipelago.com

SOURCE Archipelago Holdings, Inc.