Schwab Authorizes Additional Stock Repurchase SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Board of Directors of The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE:SCH) Nasdaq at its meeting today authorized repurchases of the Company's common stock totaling up to $300 million. The shares may be repurchased through open market or privately negotiated transactions based on prevailing market conditions. As of September 30, 2004, the Company had 1.35 billion weighted average common and common equivalent shares outstanding. The Board's action follows the completion of repurchase authorizations granted on September 20, 2001 and March 14, 2003. Under those authorizations, the Company repurchased approximately 34 million shares for $318 million during the second half of 2004. About Charles Schwab The Charles Schwab Corporation, through its operating subsidiaries, provides securities brokerage and financial services to individual investors and the independent investment advisors who work with them. With over 7 million individual investor accounts and more than $1 trillion in client assets, The Charles Schwab Corporation is one of the nation's largest financial services firms. Schwab provides a complete range of services and products, including an extensive selection of mutual funds; financial planning and investment advice; retirement plans; banking products and services; and referrals to prescreened independent fee-based investment advisors. Schwab is also the leading provider of custodial, operational and trading support for independent fee-based investment advisors. The corporation's operating subsidiaries include: Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC), U.S. Trust Corporation (member FDIC), CyberTrader(R), Inc. (member SIPC), and Charles Schwab Bank (member FDIC). These companies' Web sites can be reached at http://www.schwab.com/, http://www.ustrust.com/, http://www.cybertrader.com/, and http://www.schwabbank.com/, respectively. DATASOURCE: The Charles Schwab Corporation CONTACT: media, Glen Mathison, +1-415-636-5448, or investors/analysts, Rich Fowler, +1-415-636-9869, both of Charles Schwab Web site: http://www.schwab.com/

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