‘DEALXPRESS’ OFFERS SEAMLESS FIXED INCOME STP SOLUTION

Toronto – August 19, 2003 – CanDeal.ca Inc., Canada’s leading on-line institutional multi-dealer to client debt securities trading system, today announced an important breakthrough for the Canadian Capital Markets industry mission to achieve straight-through-processing (STP). CanDeal is pleased to announce the launch of DealXpress™ Version 1.0, a new trade processing solution that can electronically pass matched trades completed on CanDeal through to a client’s portfolio management system.

DealXpress version 1.0 is the first release in a series of planned, customized enhancements by CanDeal, that enables institutions and dealers to allocate, confirm and settle trades electronically.  CanDeal customers have played key, lead roles in helping to define and test this initiative. Electronic trade-processing innovations are considered essential components, required to help the Canadian Debt Industry reach its goal of implementing STP. 

“This new enhancement demonstrates CanDeal’s ongoing commitment to enhance its products and services for the benefit of the Canadian Capital Markets” said Jayson Horner President & CEO CanDeal. “In their recent paper on Industry Trade processing Best Practices, the Canadian Capital Markets Association, the industry group promoting STP in Canada, stated that the ability to pass financial information electronically on a timely, accurate system-to system basis – to all parties in a transaction chain – is considered a pre-requisite to shortening the settlement cycle to (T+1).  It is also key to both helping position firms for future growth and to maintaining the competitiveness of Canada’s capital markets. We are working closely with members of the CCMA and other Industry participants to create the technology and electronic information flow necessary to help Canada’s debt markets achieve STP,” he added.

DealXpress version 1.0 can electronically pass matched trade information, including allocations, to the front, mid or back office of the investment dealer and to the portfolio management, trade management or accounting system of the CanDeal client. The ability to pass details of a trade electronically will result in fewer failed trades, lower trade processing costs, and accelerate the trade settlement process cycle, thus saving the industry significant costs. With DealXpress trades executed on CanDeal no longer need to be manually input by the trader or portfolio manager. The trades can electronically flow into a portfolio management system thereby saving time and effort. Additionally, the financial (or settlement) risk associated with failed trades due to input errors is significantly reduced.  

About CanDeal.ca Inc.
CanDeal is Canada's leading institutional customer to multi-dealer online fixed income trading network. CanDeal's robust and reliable platform provides its participants with continuous access to the deepest pool of liquidity for fixed income products. Today, the network delivers the market making power of the six largest domestic investment dealers to Canada's largest institutional customers. The CanDeal electronic marketplace is open and available to all institutional buyside participants and dealers across Canada.

CanDeal’s fair and open proprietary auction model permits authorized institutional market participants to receive live dealing quotes simultaneously from multiple dealers and to execute a trade at the best price in a fraction of a second. As a leader in "Straight-Through Processing" (STP) solutions, CanDeal provides its participants with electronic trade reporting, on-line detailed audit trails, an integrated trade allocation facility and trade data export capability.

CanDeal also provides a real time market data price feed for the fixed income securities traded on its platform. CanDeal was formed in June, 2001 to create a neutral marketplace providing end-to-end efficient transaction solutions. CanDeal is the first debt securities trading system to be recognized across Canada by all securities regulators as an Alternative Trading System (ATS) and an investment dealer.  In addition, CanDeal is a member of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada and the Canadian Investor Protection Fund.