Monday May 15, 1:51 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: eSpeed, Inc.
eSpeed Signs Deals with 7 Online Brokers to Give Consumers the Ability to Trade Bonds the Same Way they Trade Stocks
eSpeed, Inc. Agrees with A.B. Watley, Web Street Securities, Muriel Siebert & Co., Tradescape.com, NetInvestor, Bondpage.com and Scottrade
Alliances Expected to Bring Wholesale Bond Trading To Individual Investors Everywhere
NEW YORK, May 15 /PRNewswire/ -- eSpeed, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESPD - news), the leading provider of real-time business-to-business electronic marketplaces, today announced that it has signed agreements with A.B. Watley (Nasdaq: ABWG - news), Muriel Siebert & Co. (Nasdaq: SIEB - news), Web Street Securities, Tradescape.com, NetInvestor, Bondpage.com and Scottrade, to offer individual investors direct access to electronic trading of bonds, providing access in the same way that individual investors currently have access to the equity markets. For the first time ever, customers of these online brokers will have full electronic access to buy and sell bonds through eSpeed's global network. A copy of eSpeed's May 9th announcement of its agreement with Charles Schwab & Co. is attached.
``For the first time in history, individual investors will be able to buy and sell bonds effectively in the same way they now buy and sell stocks,'' said eSpeed President Frederick T. Varacchi. ``The size of the markets investors will now have full electronic access to is staggering. For too long, retail investors have been isolated from that liquidity. By opening these markets up, we've brought an incredible new opportunity for people to trade bonds.''
In size, the U.S. bond markets are more than five times the size of the stock markets. For example, about $40 billion in trades take place on the NASDAQ every day and about $35 billion on the NYSE. These trades represent about 5,000 individual stocks. By comparison, about $200 billion in trades are executed in U.S. Government securities alone, every day.
Howard W. Lutnick, Chairman and CEO of eSpeed said, ``We anticipate that these relationships will give investors unprecedented access to the world's most liquid wholesale market for bonds.''
In the past, there was no liquid bond market, as there is in the stock markets. As a result of these agreements, it is anticipated that in the near future investors will be able to buy and sell U.S. Treasuries at the wholesale market price at the click of a mouse.
Online brokers will link their customers to the wholesale bond market through eSpeed Online(SM) Service. Whether they use eSpeed Online's proprietary software tool kit or an Application Program Interface (API), online brokers will be able to tailor the system to their corporate look and feel. Customers will therefore have the same Web experience they are accustomed to from their online broker. eSpeed Online, will also link to the brokers' middle and back office systems, providing a complete end-to-end mechanism for trade execution, risk management, processing and billing.
Since 1996, eSpeed's systems have enabled over 500 financial institutions around the globe, including the world's 25 largest bond brokerage houses to trade bonds in an electronic system. Over $150 billion in transactions cross eSpeed's systems daily.
David Kravette, a Managing Director at eSpeed added, ``Because of the sheer volume and volatility of the wholesale bond market, the speed of electronic trading is an essential tool for investors. The bond markets are robust, intensive environments.''
eSpeed Online(SM) Service
Through eSpeed Online, online brokerage firms can offer their retail investors the unique opportunity to transact directly with the highly liquid wholesale market for bonds. eSpeed OnLine is delivered to online brokers either as a software tool kit or eSpeed's industry leading open Application Program Interface (API), enabling each online broker to tailor the system to their look and feel on the front end, as well as full straight through processing to their middle and back office systems.
All trades using the eSpeed Online(SM) Service are executed and confirmed in real-time. If the online broker desires, eSpeed Online will net all of the trades and forward one end-of-day settlement for each security traded that day. As a result, online brokerages can realize considerable savings in back office processing and clearing fees. In addition, eSpeed Online offers a completely paperless, hands-off trade process. For more information on eSpeed Online, please call David Kravette at 212-938-3952 or dkravette@espeed.com
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