June 2, 1999 08:25 AM
PALO ALTO, Calif., June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- E*TRADE(R) Group Inc. EGRP and its international affiliate for the Scandinavian countries, E*TRADE Nordic (Norden) AB, today announced the launch of E*TRADE Sweden (Sverige), a new online investing services web site in Sweden. The new service, located on the Internet at www.etrade.se, is the fourth E*TRADE- branded site to be launched outside of the United States and the second to debut this year, following the March launch of the CPR-E*TRADE web site in France.
Founded by E*TRADE and prominent financial services businessmen Johan Brenner and Magnus Lindahl, E*TRADE Nordic holds the rights to establish E*TRADE-branded financial services destination web sites in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.
According to Sifo Interactive, the Internet market penetration in Sweden is one of the highest in the world, with nearly half of all Swedes between the ages of 12 and 79 accessing the Internet in February 1999. In addition, Sifo Interactive reports that more than 140,000 online individual investor accounts have been opened since online investing services debuted in Sweden in 1996. Combined, these factors make Sweden an ideal location for E*TRADE to continue its global expansion strategy by leveraging its popular brand name, award- winning, intuitive web site design and proprietary Stateless Architecture(SM) technology platform in a rapidly expanding market.
"With E*TRADE Sweden, we are entering an extremely savvy Internet market with a recognized and trusted brand name and a suite of financial products and tools that will help educate online investors and exceed the Swedish investors' expectations of a premier financial services web site," said Judy Balint, president and chief operating officer of E*TRADE International. "We've gained rapid acceptance in the foreign markets we've entered by virtue of a content-rich site that educates and empowers individual investors to take greater control over their personal financial decisions."
Upon its launch, the E*TRADE Sweden web site will be one of the few Swedish sites to offer domestic investing services in both English and Swedish. In the coming months, E*TRADE Sweden intends to extend its offerings to include equities trading on U.S. markets. The move to enable Swedish investors to trade in the United States is part of E*TRADE's overall goal to facilitate cross-border trading through all E*TRADE-branded international web sites.
E*TRADE Sweden also will be one of the only Swedish online investing sites to provide a "Portfolio Manager" that enables investors to track the daily activity of their personal equity holdings in terms of price change, market value, and total daily gain or losses among other variables. This Portfolio Manager also enables investors to create stock watch scenarios to monitor the performances of various equities they may not currently own, but are interested in tracking. E*TRADE Sweden's site is also unique since it will be the only domestic online investing site to offer comprehensive international headline and financial news in both English and Swedish to help educate online investors about both the local and the global markets.
"We're extremely proud to be part of E*TRADE's growing worldwide network, and look forward to the role we can play in continuing to establish E*TRADE as a global leader in online investing and personal financial services," said Johan Brenner, chief executive officer of E*TRADE Nordic.
Along with the ability to place equity and options transactions online through the Stockholm Stock Exchange and the OM (Options Market), the E*TRADE Sweden web site offers a variety of financial tools designed to maximize an individual's control over their personal portfolio through market research and financial news. E*TRADE Sweden also is a registered broker-dealer and has membership on both the Stockholm Stock Exchange and the Options Market Exchange.
Added Magnus Lindahl, chief executive officer of E*TRADE Sweden, "Approximately 10 percent of transactions on the Stockholm Stock Exchange are made by online investors, and research shows that interest in online investing in Sweden is increasing. We believe the multiple advantages offered by our site will be a compelling reason for individual investors to become customers of E*TRADE Sweden."
As part of E*TRADE's growing global network of branded web sites, the E*TRADE Sweden site joins E*TRADE Canada, E*TRADE Australia and CPR-E*TRADE (France).
About E*TRADE
A leading branded provider of online investing services, E*TRADE has established a popular destination web site for self-directed investors. The company offers independent investors the convenience and control of automated stock, options and mutual funds order placement at low commission rates. In addition, E*TRADE has a suite of value-added products and services that can be personalized, including portfolio tracking, real-time stock quotes, Smart Alerts, market commentary and analysis, news, investor community areas and other information services.
E*TRADE was the first securities and financial services company to be awarded the CPA WebTrust seal of assurance by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). In the fourth quarter of 1998, the E*TRADE web site was named the No. 1 online investing site in an international survey of the industry's top 20 Internet brokerage firms by Lafferty Information and Research Group, a global provider of high-value and business information research. Investors can access E*TRADE at www.etrade.com on the Internet and through many other electronic channels and online services, including AOL (Keyword: E*TRADE) and via the TELE*MASTER interactive telephone system. E*TRADE Securities Inc. (Member NASD/SIPC), and its parent company, E*TRADE Group Inc., are headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif.
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 E*TRADE destination 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.
E*TRADE Media Contacts: Ken Sporleder, ext. 129, ksporled@nealemay.com, or Doug Hendrix, ext. 115, dhendrix@nealemay.com, both of Neale-May & Partners, 650-328-5555
SOURCE E*TRADE Group Inc.
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