Entwistle & Cappucci LLP Retained to Prosecute a Class Action Suit Against LaBranche & Co., Bear Wagner Specialists LLC, Spear, Leeds & Kellogg Specialists LLC, Van der Moolen Specialists USA, LLC and Fleet Specialist, Inc.

Business Editors/Legal Writers

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 2003

Entwistle & Cappucci LLP today announced that the firm has been retained by a large financial institution in connection with the class action proceedings brought on behalf of all persons or entities who purchased and/or sold NYSE listed securities which were auctioned by defendant specialists LaBranche & Co.(NYSE:LAB), Bear Wagner Specialists LLC, Spear, Leeds & Kellogg Specialists LLC(NYSE:GS), Van der Moolen Specialists USA, LLC and Fleet Specialist, Inc.(NYSE:FBF). The firm also announced that its client, which between October 17, 1998 and October 15, 2003 purchased billions of shares auctioned by the five specialists, will be moving to be appointed lead plaintiff in the pending class action.

The complaint filed in this action charges the specialist firms with allegedly engaging in "front-running" trades and failing to disclose that orders were not being filled at the best prices, but were being manipulated for the specialists' benefit in contravention of the NYSE's "negative obligation" rules. The specialists' interpositioning themselves between public sellers and buyers of stock for their own benefit constituted a violation of various provisions of the federal securities laws, pursuant to which monetary relief is being sought.

On October 16, 2003, it was reported by Reuters that the NYSE will seek fines totaling approximately $150 million against the five specialist firms for front-running trades that allegedly cost clients millions of dollars. On November 3, 2003, The Wall Street Journal reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission, in a confidential report, found that approximately 2.2 billion shares were improperly traded over the past three years alone, and that the SEC "is concerned that the NYSE's disciplinary program is viewed by specialists and specialists firms as a minor cost of doing business, and that it does not adequately discipline or deter violative conduct." The report also noted that the floor-trading firms "have no meaningful compliance programs for reviewing their specialists' compliance" to various trading rules.

Entwistle & Cappucci (www.entwistle-law.com) is one of the nation's leading securities litigation firms, representing some of the nation's largest public pension funds and private institutional investors in significant securities litigation in federal and state courts across the country. The firm specializes in all aspects of securities related litigation for public pension funds and other institutional investors, including private, class, and derivative actions as well as actions alleging breach of fiduciary duty and corporate waste, appraisal proceedings, and actions challenging corporate transactions on fairness and other grounds.

If you wish to discuss the action or have any questions concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact Stephen D. Oestreich or Vincent R. Cappucci of Entwistle & Cappucci at 212-894-7200 or via e-mail at [e-mail] or [e-mail].