A.B. Watley Group Completes Data Delivery 'Ticker Plant' and is Granted Vendor of Record Status by U.S. Exchanges.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 29, 2001

A.B. Watley Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ABWG):

-- Will Result in Approximately $1 Mil in Annual Data Feed Savings

-- Watley Dedicated to Delivering the Most Reliable and Accurate Data Service
in the Industry

A.B. Watley Group Inc. (NASDAQ: ABWG), premier provider of financial services technology (www.abwatley.com), today announced that the Company has completed the technological infrastructure work and delivered a fully functional U.S. equity and equity option data delivery `ticker plant'.

The Company has also been granted Vendor of Record status by the New York Stock Exchange, American Stock Exchange, NASDAQ, Options Price Reporting Authority, Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange. With the `ticker plant' and Vendor of Record status the Company takes greater control of its cost structure and enables itself to compete more favorably in the vast B2B software licensing and data delivery market.

"Creating our own `ticker plant' is almost as significant a milestone as was the completion of our direct-access trading software, UltimateTrader(R) II. Having our own ticker plant will result in significant product delivery savings and allow us to aggressively compete in the vast B2B data delivery market. This switch from a variable cost to a fixed cost structure will allow us to expand our business with a much lower, fixed cost infrastructure. The completion of this large a project is a testament to the quality of our software development team." said Leon Ferguson, A.B. Watley Group CIO.

"We have aggressively cut our costs across the board. There were significant up front costs associated with building our own software and ticker-plant, but they will be paying us significant dividends starting April 1. As we add to our software licensing contracts and the B2B revenues start to kick in, we will reap the benefits of this work." said Tony Huston, A.B. Watley Group President.

"In order to obtain Vendor of Record status, we had to go through a stringent due diligence process set forth by the exchanges. The new `ticker plant' will enable Watley Group to retrieve data directly from the exchanges and then redistribute it to our client base. By creating this new structure, Watley will be able to provide our clients with a more reliable and accurate data feed transmission directly from the exchanges." said Bill Sim, Senior Vice President, Product Management.

ABOUT A.B. WATLEY GROUP INC.

A.B. Watley Group Inc. is a financial services company that also owns and operates A.B. Watley, Inc., a New York based NASD registered broker/dealer. A.B. Watley, Inc. is the among the largest direct-access brokerage firms in the industry and operates an Institutional Sales and Trading Division specializing in the execution of complex and sensitive large-block equity transactions for institutions. A.B. Watley Group licenses software technology and provides trading solutions for E-Brokerages and clearing corporations. A.B. Watley Group Inc.'s competitors include NYFIX, E-Speed, OM Group, Trade Cast, Charles Schwab, Ameritrade, and TD Waterhouse.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT

Certain statements contained herein, including statements regarding the development of services and markets and future demand for services and other statements regarding matters that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended). Any number of conditions may occur which would materially affect important factors in this analysis and materially change expectations. These factors include, but are not limited to, customer trading activity, loss of one or more significant customers, change in technology, issues involved in the launch of new or modified software programs, issues involved in acting as licensor for proprietary software, shifts in competitive patterns, ability to manage growth effectively, risks associated with acquisitions including integration risks, risks associated with strategic partnerships, various project-associated risks, substantial competition, general economic conditions, risks associated with intellectual property rights, risks associated with international operations and other risk factors listed from time to time in A.B. Watley Group Inc.'s filings and reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission.