ISE Appoints Thomas Ascher Chief Strategy Officer

Business Wire, March 30, 2005

NEW YORK -- The International Securities Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ISE) said today that Thomas Ascher has been appointed Chief Strategy Officer.

Mr. Ascher will head the Corporate Initiatives division at the Company, with responsibility for identifying, analyzing and instituting businesses that may provide ISE with growth opportunities. The Corporate Initiatives division manages ISE's new business development, including strategic planning.

Mr. Ascher joins ISE after most recently serving as Chief Executive Officer of NQLX, Nasdaq Liffe Markets LLC. Before NQLX, Mr. Ascher was an Executive Vice President of Interactive Brokers LLC, part of the Interactive Brokers Group LLC. He also has worked as an options market maker at the Chicago Board Options Exchange, where he served as Vice Chairman of the Board, and Chairman of the Executive Committee. He is a graduate of Carleton College.

ISE Background

The International Securities Exchange, the world's largest equity options exchange, was founded on the principle that technology fosters and infuses new efficiencies and operational innovations into securities trading. After developing an innovative market structure that integrated auction market principles into an advanced screen-based trading system, ISE launched the first fully electronic US options exchange in May 2000. ISE continually enhances its trading systems to provide investors with the best marketplace to execute their options orders.

For more information about ISE, its products and its technology, visit www.iseoptions.com.

Forward-Looking Statements: Statements in this news release which are not historical in nature are "forward-looking statements" pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts are subject to various risks and uncertainties as set forth from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.