E*TRADE To Add After Hours Trading Through Agreement With Instinet
Milestone Accord To Offer Individual Investors Online Access To All
U.S. Stocks For Longer Hours
MENLO PARK, Calif., Aug. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- E*TRADE(R) Group Inc. (Nasdaq: EGRP) today
announced an agreement in principle with Instinet Corporation to provide after hours
online trading in the United States for self-directed individual investors seeking to
respond to breaking news and late market developments. This means E*TRADE customers will
have access to after hours trading traditionally available to large institutional
investors, fund managers and broker/dealers.
Instinet, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reuters Group PLC (Nasdaq: RTRSY), is the
world's largest agency brokerage firm and the industry brokerage leader in after hours
trading. Instinet's institutional clients represent more than 90 percent of the
institutional equity funds under management in the United States. Instinet accounts for
nearly 20 percent of the Nasdaq daily trading volume and trades approximately 170 million
shares of all U.S. equities daily.
The services contemplated by the agreement will be available in September and will
give E*TRADE another unique competitive advantage in the rapidly expanding online
investing category. With Instinet, E*TRADE will provide its customers the ability to
interact with the largest after hours order flow available, offering them the best chance
of favorable execution.
The linkage gives E*TRADE customers the longest after hours trading window, from 4 -
6:30 p.m. ET -- twice as long as E*TRADE's nearest competitor. It also provides
customers with unique online access to trading opportunities in both listed (NYSE) and
Nasdaq equities. Other competitors are limited to Nasdaq trading only.
For E*TRADE customers, standard commission rates will apply, with E*TRADE maintaining
all customer accounts and support associated with the after hours program. E*TRADE will
retain responsibility for maintaining and servicing the after hours trading of its
customers. The agreement also provides E*TRADE customers access to after hours quotes
which are, in fact, actual orders from Instinet clients.
"The addition of after hours trading reinforces our position as a global leader and
recognized authority in the delivery of electronic personal financial services," said
Christos M. Cotsakos, chairman and chief executive officer of E*TRADE. "It's yet another
way we are empowering the self-directed, individual investor and bringing more efficiency
and convenience to personal asset management. What our customers want is access to
opportunity and a level playing field with larger institutional investors. It's all part
of democratizing personal investing."
"Instinet strongly believes in changing the rules of brokerage to benefit all
investors and issuers," said Douglas Atkin, president and chief executive officer of
Instinet. "We have long been committed to extending the efficiency and performance
benefits of Instinet to individual investors. By giving individual investors online
access to Instinet through E*TRADE, we are now linked in a dynamic relationship for
achieving our goals."
Instinet also recently announced it has joined a group of investors, including
E*TRADE, by making a strategic investment in Archipelago LLC, one of the nation's leading
Electronic Communications Networks (ECNs). Archipelago is seeking SEC approval to
establish itself as a registered, self-regulating stock exchange. In June, an
Instinet-led consortium of five global financial firms acquired majority stake in
Tradepoint, a U.K. screen-based for-profit exchange. Archipelago and E*TRADE, through
its investment in Archipelago, are members of the consortium.
The agreement between E*TRADE and Instinet is expected to be completed within the next
few weeks and is contingent upon customary conditions and due diligence.
About E*TRADE
E*TRADE, a global leader in online personal financial services, has emerged as the
world's most-visited online investing site. The content-rich Destination E*TRADE web site
offers value-added investing and research features, premium customer service and a fully
redundant, proprietary Stateless Architecture(SM) infrastructure. E*TRADE intends to
expand its global positioning by launching branded web sites in the top 20 financial
markets worldwide.
In recognition of its innovation and industry leadership, E*TRADE was ranked the
number one online brokerage by Gomez Advisors (Summer 1999) and Lafferty Information and
Research Group (4Q98, 1Q99). E*TRADE also was the first securities and financial services
company to be awarded both the WebTrust seal of assurance by the American Institute of
Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the "Trustmark" seal of approval from TRUSTe.
E*TRADE is committed to providing the most comprehensive financial services experience
on the Internet, as demonstrated by its acquisition of Clearstation.com, a
community-based financial analysis site, as well as strategic investments in E*OFFERING,
a full-service online investment bank, and Archipelago, a leading Electronic
Communications Network (ECN).
E*TRADE also is positioned to become the first pure-play e-commerce company in the
financial services sector -- combining online banking and brokerage services -- through a
definitive merger agreement with Telebanc, the nation's leading branchless bank. It is
anticipated that the Telebanc merger will close this fall. In addition, E*TRADE is poised
to become the first online global trading network with its recently announced acquisition
of TIR Holdings.
E*TRADE Securities Inc. (Member NASD/SIPC), and its parent company, E*TRADE Group
Inc., are headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif.
Instinet Corporation
Instinet Corporation, the world's largest agency brokerage firm, trades in over 40
global markets daily and is a member of 17 exchanges in North America, Europe and Asia.
The firm is committed to bringing efficiencies to capital raising worldwide by using
technology in securities trading and research to bring issuers and investors closer
together.
Instinet is the worldwide industry leader in applying advanced technology to agency
trading in equities. As a pure agency broker, Instinet seeks only to increase its
clients' investment performance by providing them instant access to global liquidity,
enhanced efficiency, and greater opportunities to reduce transaction costs. Instinet US
institutional clients save about $1 billion annually in transaction costs for individual
investors.
The Elkins/McSherry ranking of global brokers and investment managers according to
execution savings, ranked Instinet as the number one US OTC broker and number six global
broker.
Instinet also offers a variety of advanced electronic research services to clients,
including research and analytics, trading-cost analysis and soft dollar commissions.
Recently, Instinet has announced its planned expansion into the fixed income market.
Instinet Fixed Income will offer the global capital markets a unique brokerage product
that serves as the electronic link between professional market participants. Instinet
will be the first electronic brokerage solution for the fixed-income market.
The firm also announced investment and joint venture plans with W.R. Hambrecht + Co.,
the founders of Hambrecht's IPO system.
The firm was founded in 1969 and was acquired by Reuters Group PLC in 1987.
Important Notice
E*TRADE is a registered trademark of the company. All other trademarks are properties
of their respective owners. The statements contained in this news release that are
forward-looking are based on current expectations that are subject to a number of
uncertainties and risks, and actual results may differ materially. The uncertainties and
risks include, but are not limited to, changes in market activity, market acceptance of
the new Destination E*TRADE web site, anticipated increases in the rate of new customer
acquisition, the conversion of new visitors to the site to customers, seasonality, the
development of new products and services, the enhancement of existing products and
services, competitive pressures (including price competition), system failures, economic
and political conditions, changes in consumer behavior and the introduction of competing
products having technological and/or other advantages. Further information about these
risks and uncertainties can be found in the information included in the annual report
filed by the company with the SEC on Form 10-K (including information under the caption
("Risk Factors") and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. The company has not independently
verified market size information contained in this release and provided by Gomez
Advisors.
E*TRADE Media Contacts: Instinet Media Contacts:
Tim Alban Terrence Mulry
(650) 331-5865 (212) 310-9554
talban@etrade.com terrence_mulry@instinet.com
Greg Xenakis Lorrie Harte Benwell
Neale-May & Partners 0171-680-3008
(650) 328-5555, ext. 142 lorrie.harte_benwell@instinet.com
gxenakis@nealemay.com
/CONTACT: Tim Alban of E*TRADE, 650-331-5865, or talban@etrade.com; or Greg Xenakis
of Neale-May & Partners, 650-328-5555, ext. 142, or gxenakis@nealemay.com, for E*TRADE;
or Terrence Mulry, 212-310-9554, or terrence_mulry@instinet.com, or Lorrie Harte
Benwell, 0171-680-3008, or lorrie.harte_benwell@instinet.com, both of Instinet/
08:25 EDT |
