Bernstein Gets Winning Results with Lava's ColorPalette; OMS Positions Firm for Continued Growth

Business Wire, June 21, 2006

NEW YORK -- Lava Trading Inc., a leading developer of high-performance trading solutions for the financial services industry, and a wholly owned, independently-operated subsidiary of Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C), today announced the successful implementation of Lava Trading's ColorPalette(R) trading and order management system at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC. Bernstein is one of the world's preeminent equity brokerage firms, known for its award-winning research to institutional customers.

The implementation of ColorPalette was part of a multi-year effort by Bernstein to modernize its trading platform. Bernstein chose ColorPalette after assessing a number of other OMS offerings.

"With the implementation of Lava's ColorPalette system, our trading platform is seamlessly integrated and state-of-the-art," said Tom Wright, Senior Vice President and Head of Global Trading, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. "ColorPalette positions us for continued growth, and lets us prepare for the anticipated market structure changes associated with the NYSE hybrid market and Regulation NMS. We look forward to continuing to work with Lava on additional enhancements to the ColorPalette system."

ColorPalette is a powerful sector-based trading and order management solution, designed as a high-throughput, fully automated system for managing institutional and retail customer orders. Its features include streamlined regulatory handling of current rules for all capacity orders, customer order crossing and internalization management, open architecture with standard and strategically-placed APIs, complete trade risk management, and TraderIntelligence(TM), a dynamic order-based query.

"We are pleased that Bernstein is part of the growing number of premier global firms using Lava's OMS solution," said Richard Korhammer, CEO, Lava Trading. "We look forward to a productive relationship working in partnership with Bernstein to further enhance their trading platform and meet the ever-changing needs of today's marketplace."

About Sanford C. Bernstein

Bernstein is a leading institutional firm that provides award-winning institutional equity research, sales and trading to clients around the world. In the United States, Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC provides self-clearing brokerage services and a full service suite of trading services, including proprietary algorithmic trading, electronic trading, direct market access, sector block trading and product specialist desks. The firm also acts as a market-maker and maintains a significant presence on the NYSE Floor. Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC, which has its principal offices in New York, and Sanford C. Bernstein Limited, its affiliate in London, are wholly owned subsidiaries of AllianceBernstein L.P. and AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (NYSE: AB), which is ultimately owned by AXA, one of the largest global financial services organizations. Bernstein is the successor to Sanford C. Bernstein Inc., which was founded in 1967.

About Lava Trading Inc.

Headquartered in New York City, with locations in California, Connecticut and the United Kingdom, Lava Trading Inc. is an innovative technology firm that develops high-performance trading solutions for the financial services industry. Lava products are created as true ASP solutions built to withstand maximum volumes in the most volatile conditions. As a cost effective and neutral provider, Lava's OTC, Listed and Foreign Exchange solutions are used by leading broker/dealers, including most of the top U.S. investment banks, as well as market makers, hedge funds and institutional investors. With its patented technology and capital markets expertise, Lava creates value-added trading solutions that combine speed, intelligence and reliability. Lava is a wholly owned, independently-operated subsidiary of Citigroup, Inc. (NYSE: C) and is a member NASD/SIPC. For more information, visit www.lavatrading.com.