Press Release

APRIL 23, 2002  

Xcitek offers Exchange Data International data via Xcitek.com

Xcitek and Exchange Data International (EDI) are pleased to announce the launch of Exchange Data's worldwide dividend service on the Xcitek.com service. This service allows users to pay only for the dividends that they inquire about, obviating the need for expensive annual subscriptions.

The Worldwide Dividend feed, developed by EDI’s in-house team, allows securities professional to have easy access to a comprehensive list of dividend information, including Ex-Dividend, Record and Pay-dates, Dividend Amount, Gross and Net Tax Rates. As the information is sourced directly from over 95 exchanges, EDI’s new service aims to provide accurate and timely global dividend data.

Xcitek also offers a Portfolio Tracking Service, which allows the user to upload a Portfolio using Sedol or ISIN and have a detailed Dividend report emailed to their desktop based upon the securities held within the portfolio.

Users can inquire on-line by daily announcements, five-day calendar, issuer, Sedol, ISIN and announcement. Users have maximum freedom when using the system and can change passwords, add new users, update users while at any time viewing their billing summary.

Jonathan Bloch, Managing Director of Exchange Data International said "this is the first time that we have made our data available by means of "pay-as-you-go" and we are very happy working with Xcitek in doing so."

Brendan P. Farrell, Jr., Managing Director of Xcitek said "partnering Xcitek’s state of the art technology solutions with such a high quality data provider as Exchange Data International enables us to further realize our goal of being the premier provider of securities operations data and automated processing solutions to the Financial Industry. We are delighted to welcome EDI as an Xcitek partner"

Exchange Data International is a wholly owned subsidiary of Information Publishing Plc. Established in 1994; EDI has expanded both its product range and geographic coverage. EDI’s objective is to be the premier provider of flexible, innovative, user-friendly, yet cost-effective solutions for the securities professional. Over the past months, EDI has launched a new generation of database products available on the Internet. Today, the company provides securities data and BackOffice solutions to most of the major banks, investment houses, brokers, custodians, and data vendors.

Main Contact:

Mr. Jonathan Bloch

Managing Director

44(207) 269-9150

www.exchange-data.com

Founded in 1986, Xcitek is a New York based company specializing in providing global corporate actions, cash dividends and cost basis & taxability data, corporate actions software solutions and consulting services to more than 400 financial institutions.

Xcitek.com was created in 1998 and provides web-based query and automated portfolio tracking tools to the Xcitek client base. A wide array of Global Corporate Actions, Dividends & Interest Payments, Cost Basis & Taxability, Mutual Fund Distribution Announcement and Proxy announcements can be retrieved from this easy to use system, sourced by the Industry’s leading data providers.

In 1996, the Xcitek Solutions Plus ("XSP") ISO 15022 compliant corporate actions processing application was developed. Its extensive data mapping capabilities coupled with its workflow management tools reduce most of the risks associated with corporate actions. Its web-based "eTRAN" and ISO-enabled (S.W.I.F.T.) client notification and response capture tools eliminate costly manual intervention. Complete client system integration facilitates front-to-end entitlement processing. Over 35 major global financial institutions license XSP making it the de-facto standard for Global Corporate Actions STP worldwide.

Main Contact:

Mr. Brendan P. Farrell, Jr.

Managing Director

1(212) 785-1288, Ext. 331

brendan@xcitek.com

www.xcitek.com