Electronic trading just keeps on expanding:NEW YORK, May 15, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- eSpeed, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESPD),
the leading provider of real-time business-to-business electronic marketplaces,
today announced that it has signed agreements with A.B. Watley (Nasdaq: ABWG),
Muriel Siebert & Co. (Nasdaq: SIEB), 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
eSpeed, Inc. and Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. Sign Deal to Give Retail
Investors Broader Access to Electronic Trading of U.S. Treasury and U.S.
Agency Securities
NEW YORK -- eSpeed, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESPD), a leading provider of real-time
business-to-business electronic marketplaces, and Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.,
one of the nation's leading financial service providers (NYSE: SCH), today
announced they have signed an agreement to offer individual investors broader
access to electronic trading of U.S. Treasury and U.S. Agency securities.
Through an electronic link to eSpeed, Schwab customers will have the opportunity
to buy and sell a broader array of U.S. Treasury securities and U.S. Agency
securities via schwab.com.
"Individual investors will soon be able to buy and sell bonds as efficiently as
they buy and sell stocks," said eSpeed President Frederick T. Varacchi. "Until
now, individual retail investors have not been able to take advantage of the
incredible trading opportunities that electronic access to bond markets can
provide. This agreement means that the on-line investing revolution has taken a
new turn. We're excited to be working with Schwab in changing the way people
trade and invest in bonds electronically."
"This is a new relationship between Charles Schwab and eSpeed," said John
Ladensack, Senior Vice President of fixed income at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
"Our agreement is an important part of Schwab's new electronic bond trading
system which we plan to roll out this summer. It's all about choice. While our
relationship with eSpeed begins with Treasuries and Agencies, it has the
potential to expand to other fixed income products."
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.
Electronic access to the bond market will be provided by eSpeed. Execution
services for Charles Schwab & Co. Inc.'s trades will be provided by Cantor
Fitzgerald, which provides a broad spectrum of institutional brokerage and
execution services to the global financial markets and is the world's largest
broker of U.S. government securities, Eurobonds, and international sovereign
debt. Over $150 billion in transactions cross eSpeed's systems daily. Since
1996, the technology that powers eSpeed's systems has enabled over 500 financial
institutions around the globe, including the world's 25 largest bond-trading
houses, to trade bonds in an electronic system.
About Charles Schwab & Co., Inc.
Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. (member SIPC/NYSE) is one of the nation's leading
financial service providers, serving 6.9 million active investor accounts with
$823 billion in customer assets. Of these, approximately 3.7 million are active
online accounts with $418 billion in customer assets. Schwab provides a
full-service investing experience to customers through a "clicks and mortar"
multi-dimensional offering of the Internet, 356 branch offices, speech
recognition, touch-tone telephone, e-mail technologies, multilingual and
international services, and access to professionals day or night. About 30
percent of Schwab's customer assets and 10 percent of its customer accounts are
managed by the 5,900 independent, fee-based investment advisors served through
its Schwab Institutional division. Schwab is creating a new model of
full-service investing in which information flows freely, and investors make
their own decisions with objective advice when and how they need it.
About eSpeed, Inc.
eSpeed, Inc. (Nasdaq: ESPD) operates multiple buyer/multiple seller real- time
B2B electronic marketplaces. eSpeed's suite of marketplace tools provides an
end-to-end solution -- transaction processing, network distribution, risk
management, back-end processing and billing -- for the trading of products via
the Internet or over eSpeed's global private network. eSpeed currently provides
the marketplace infrastructure for most of the worlds fixed income marketplaces,
transacting over $150 billion of financial instruments daily. eSpeed is
headquartered in New York. Additional information on eSpeed is available via the
Internet at espeed.com.
Statements contained in this Press Release which are not historical facts are
forward-looking statements, as the term is defined in the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to
risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially
from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors, which include, but
are not limited to: the limited operating history of eSpeed, Inc., its expected
incurrence of future losses and negative cash flow from operations for the
foreseeable future, its ability to enter into marketing and strategic alliances,
to effectively manage its growth, to expand the use of its electronic systems,
and to induce customers to use its marketplaces and services and other factors
that are discussed in eSpeed's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE eSpeed, Inc.
CONTACT: Chris Staszak of eSpeed, Inc., 212-938-3712; or Nathan Tinker of
Niehaus, Ryan, Wong, 212-308-5300, for eSpeed, Inc.
URL: espeed.com
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