SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

   LITIGATION RELEASE NO. 16600 / June 20, 2000

   SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION V. STEVE MADDEN, CV 00 3632
   E.D.N.Y.)

   The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil injunctive action
   on June 20, 2000 in the United States District Court for the Eastern
   District of New York against Steve Madden, President and Chief
   Executive Officer of Steve Madden, Ltd. (SHOO), a footwear company.
   The Commission alleged that Madden violated the federal securities
   laws by participating in the manipulation of twenty-two initial public
   offerings (IPOs) underwritten by Stratton Oakmont, Inc. (Stratton),
   and Monroe Parker Securities, Inc. (Monroe), a Stratton spin-off, over
   a six-year period. Madden's own company, SHOO, was among the IPOs
   manipulated by Madden and Stratton. Also on June 20, 2000, the United
   States Attorney's Offices for the Eastern District of New York and the
   Southern District of New York announced related criminal charges
   against Madden.

   The Commission's Complaint alleges as follows

   From 1991 through 1997, Madden was a key participant in a series of
   manipulations orchestrated by Stratton and Monroe. Both firms were
   quintessential "boiler rooms" and the manipulations followed a
   standard formula. Stratton and Monroe gained control over the float of
   each stock by issuing allocations of IPO stock to persons with whom
   Stratton and Monroe had entered into secret agreements to serve as
   "flippers." The flippers received their stock with the understanding
   that they would sell the stock back to Stratton or Monroe at
   pre-arranged, below-market prices once trading had commenced in the
   aftermarket. Stratton and Monroe would then earn huge profits by
   selling the stock to their own customers at artificially inflated
   prices created by the use of high-pressure sales tactics. In each of
   the twenty-two manipulations, Madden sold his stock back to Stratton
   and Monroe and retained an agreed- upon profit for the transaction. In
   certain cases, the stock price moved up too quickly in aftermarket
   trading and Madden's profits were larger than the negotiated amount.
   In those cases, Madden returned his excess profits to Stratton and
   Monroe by executing pre-arranged "losing" transactions in his
   brokerage accounts that would benefit the trading account of either
   Stratton or Monroe.

   In certain cases, Madden received bridge units in exchange for bridge
   loans made to certain issuers. According to the prospectuses filed by
   these issuers, the bridge units were subject to lock-up agreements
   prohibiting Madden from selling the units for thirteen months after