News Releases

NEW YORK, May 19, 2006 –Today, Friday, May 19, NYSE Arca^sm adds its first new listing since the formation of NYSE Group, Inc., when the IPO of Darwin Professional Underwriters Inc. begins trading under the NYSE Arca ticker symbol “DR .”

“We are pleased to welcome Darwin Professional Underwriters as the first addition to NYSE Arca,” said NYSE Group Inc. President and co-COO Catherine R. Kinney. “We look forward to providing Darwin with the superior market making, global brand visibility, and outstanding portfolio of services that issuers expect from the NYSE Group. We look forward to a great partnership with Darwin and, going forward, to serving a broader array of quality companies.”

"Darwin is excited about our initial public offering and listing on NYSE Arca,“ said Darwin Professional Underwriters Inc. CEO Stephen Sills.  “We look forward to the next stage of our evolution, and an outstanding and productive partnership with NYSE Arca. Darwin is very impressed with NYSE Arca's ability to meet the needs of our company and our shareholders.  We are particularly pleased to be the first listing since the merger of the NYSE and ARCA, and anticipate a great relationship going forward."

NYSE Group’s multiple market platforms share similar attributes, providing superior trading quality over competitor models. In the NYSE Arca market model, listed issuers choose a “Lead Market Maker” responsible for maintaining tight spreads and providing the opportunity for price improvement. NYSE Arca has captured a significant portion of trading in Nasdaq stocks by providing excellent market quality, as measured by its superior effective spreads and speed.

NYSE Arca listing standards extend the NYSE’s current focus on providing a listing and trading venue for quality companies.

Background about Listing on NYSE Arca:

• Growth companies have the opportunity to list on NYSE Group for the first time on NYSE Arca. This gives issuers – both domestic as well as non-US companies -- an alternative listing venue, while enabling NYSE Group to compete for smaller-sized companies that previously did not qualify for the NYSE.
  
• NYSE Arca is a globally recognized, fully electronic platform that trades over 700 million shares each day on average, and that is growing quickly. NYSE Arca recorded its first one billion-plus trading day on April 27, with 1.1 billion shares representing a dollar value of $39.8 billion traded.
  
• NYSE Arca-listed companies choose a “Lead Market Maker” responsible for maintaining depth and quality of trading in the stock. The “Lead Market Maker” brokerage firm has quote and execution obligations and the responsibility for keeping tight spreads in the stock – resulting in the superior market quality that issues have come to expect. 
  
• Once they qualify, NYSE Arca-listed companies are able to seamlessly "graduate" to the full NYSE listing as they’re already part of the NYSE Group family of listed companies.

For further information about listing on NYSE Arca, contact NYSE Group , Bob Power, 212.656.2930.

See also Darwin Professional Underwriters Inc. and a list of all NYSE Arca listings.

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About NYSE Group, Inc.
NYSE Group, Inc. (NYSE:NYX) operates two securities exchanges: the New York Stock Exchange (the “NYSE”) and NYSE Arca (formerly known as the Archipelago Exchange, or ArcaEx®, and the Pacific Exchange).   NYSE Group is a leading provider of securities listing, trading and market data products and services.  The NYSE is the world’s largest and most liquid cash equities exchange.  The NYSE provides a reliable, orderly, liquid and efficient marketplace where investors buy and sell listed companies’ common stock and other securities.  Our listed operating companies represent a total global market capitalization of over $22.9 trillion.  In the first quarter 2006, on an average trading day, over 1.7 billion shares, valued at over $65 billion, were traded on the NYSE. 

NYSE Arca operates the first open, all-electronic stock exchange in the United States and has a leading position in trading exchange-traded funds and exchange-listed securities.  NYSE Arca is also an exchange for trading equity options.  NYSE Arca’s trading platform links traders to multiple U.S. market centers and provide customers with fast electronic execution and open, direct and anonymous market access.

NYSE Regulation, an independent not-for-profit subsidiary, regulates member organizations through the enforcement of marketplace rules and federal securities laws.  NYSE Regulation also ensures that companies listed on the NYSE and NYSE Arca meet their financial and corporate governance listing standards.

For more information on NYSE Group, go to:  www.nyse.com.  Information contained on our website does not constitute a part of the prospectus relating to the proposed offering.

Cautionary Note Regarding 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 NYSE Group’s current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause NYSE Group’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.  Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.  Factors that could cause NYSE Group’s results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to:  NYSE Group’s ability to implement its strategic initiatives, economic, political and market conditions and fluctuations, government and industry regulation, interest rate risk and U.S. and global competition, and other factors detailed in NYSE Group’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  In addition, these statements are based on a number of assumptions that are subject to change.  Accordingly, actual results may be materially higher or lower than those projected.  The inclusion of such projections herein should not be regarded as a representation by NYSE Group that the projections will prove to be correct. We undertake no obligation to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements.