Optimark Refocuses Its Business Strategy on Developing Exchange Technology and Names New Leadership Team

Jersey City, NJ, September 20, 2000 - OptiMark Inc. today announced a strategic re-focus of its business that will allow it to channel resources efficiently into its Exchange Solutions business, which provides electronic marketplaces with consulting services and design and development of customized, industrial-strength trading and exchange platforms.

As a part of the restructuring, OptiMark has decided to suspend operations of the existing equity trading facilities on the Pacific Exchange and Nasdaq. This suspension will be done in an orderly manner over a number of days to ensure minimal impact to customers. The restructuring will result in the elimination of approximately 110 positions, which, together with other efforts including relationship discussions with key vendors, are expected to reduce the company's ongoing expense base by more than 50%.

Additionally, Phillip Riese is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer and will be replaced by Co-Chief Executive Officers, David Johnson and Robert Warshaw. Mr. Riese will remain a Director of OptiMark; Mr. Johnson and Mr. Warshaw also have been appointed to the OptiMark Board of Directors. In addition, OptiMark has named James G. Rickards, currently Senior Vice President and General Counsel, to the post of Chief Administrative Officer.

OptiMark has reached agreements with several electronic marketplaces globally to provide customized trading exchange platforms. These include incorporating its patented matching engine into these markets as well as providing various e-marketplace capabilities. Recent announcements have included HoustonStreet Exchange, ShipDesk and PLANSPONSOR.com. Other agreements are currently being finalized with a number of major marketplaces for the ongoing development and delivery of OptiMark technology and services. These agreements are representative of the acceleration of the company's new direction, from an operator of markets to a designer and developer of trading solutions to be used by operators of electronic markets throughout the world. These trading systems are built on technology already proven by OptiMark in demanding securities markets.

"The demand that we have witnessed for our core capabilities is evidence of the value of OptiMark's products and proven technology," said Mr. Johnson, OptiMark Co-Chief Executive Officer. "Our strength is clearly in our research and technology teams working with exchanges and B2B marketplaces to deliver the trading engines and tools that provide their customers with superior trading outcomes, more transactions, lower costs and enhanced automated capabilities."

"OptiMark has patented innovations, market structure experience and a research and technology team that is highly valued by our clients for their ability to design and deliver scalable, dependable, and secure trading platforms," said Mr. Warshaw, OptiMark Co-Chief Executive Officer. "This unparalleled capability will be a competitive advantage for OptiMark as we move forward with our business plan."

"OptiMark's future growth is in leveraging the intellectual capital and technology capabilities that we have created in the US Equities markets. These unique strengths are in demand given the explosion of new and existing electronic markets especially in securities, the greater financial service industry and industry at large," said Mr. Riese, "Dedicating all our resources to this vision under this strong leadership team represents the turning point for OptiMark."

"Phillip committed to lead the company to a point of transition and leave a strong and able leadership team in place," said William Lupien, Chairman and co-founder of OptiMark. "With the agreements we have in hand and those that we expect to announce shortly, our transition is well underway. David Johnson and Bob Warshaw have the right expertise in technology and business strategy to lead OptiMark in the coming years."

David Johnson has been responsible for identifying and managing high potential markets for the OptiMark family of products. He has been a driving force in business development and is accountable for many of OptiMark's important strategic relationships. Prior to his position at OptiMark, David Johnson was President of Integrated Professional Services, Inc., a start up company focusing on building a national brand to deliver a wide range of professional services to private companies and their owners. Mr. Johnson has also served as Executive Vice President of Harris and Harris Group, Inc., a publicly traded venture capital firm and Vice President of Sales and Trading in the mortgage-backed securities area at Salomon Brothers. Mr. Johnson has a B.S. from the University of North Carolina and an MBA from the Colgate Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia.

As Chief Technology Officer, Bob Warshaw has been instrumental in setting the technological strategy for the OptiMark team and one of the leading catalysts for key strategic agreements at OptiMark. He is responsible for the development, implementation and operation of the trading and exchange environments for OptiMark's partners and oversees the majority of the OptiMark employee base. Prior to OptiMark, Mr. Warshaw was Chief Information Officer at Lazard Frères. He came to Lazard from McKinsey & Co, where he worked with large financial services and technology firms to adapt their structure and processes to be more cost effective, innovative and functional. Mr. Warshaw began his career at Andersen Consulting where he led both domestic and international strategy and large systems integration projects. Mr. Warshaw has an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a Masters in Management from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.

About OptiMark

OptiMark, Inc., a privately held company, is a leading provider of exchange solutions to electronic marketplaces and communities globally. OptiMark's broad range of solutions include the simplest browse or auction markets to the most sophisticated trading exchanges where multiple buyers and sellers trade and negotiate electronically for goods and services. OptiMark's core technology is a patented engine that optimizes transactions for market participants based on multi-attribute preference-based matching. OptiMark has proven solutions adopted by the most demanding markets in the world. OptiMark's investors include General Atlantic Partners, SOFTBANK, Aon Group, Dow Jones & Company, Goldman Sachs, and Merrill Lynch. OptiMark is headquartered in Jersey City, New Jersey. Additional information on the company is available at http://www.optimark.com.

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