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BondsInAsia (BIA) announced today that BNP Paribas has invested in its venture to offer the leading regional electronic trading platform for Asian fixed income securities.

BNP Paribas joins existing shareholders Citigroup, HSBC, Deutsche Bank and Bridge eMarkets. Each financial partner holds an equal share in BondsInAsia, which will create a multi-dealer trading platform for each Asian market, allowing local market makers to trade with local investors.

The BIA platform is due to go live later this year and will initially cover Hong Kong, Singapore and G3 currency denominated Asian credit markets, before expanding into Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines and India, subject to appropriate approvals.

BondsInAsia Chief Executive Officer Albert Cobetto said the addition of BNP Paribas, a highly respected player in the market, further strengthens BIA's position to become the pre-eminent fixed income-trading platform in Asia and to set a new standard for bond trading infrastructure.

"We are excited to be working with BNP Paribas, one of the key liquidity providers in the global marketplace and have a significant presence in the Asian domestic markets, both of which are core to the BondsInAsia philosophy. We have worked with many of the fixed income management at BNP Paribas and know that they have a depth of experience in the Asian capital markets which will be an ideal complement to Citigroup, Deutsche and HSBC."

The Head of Fixed Income and Treasury for BNP Paribas in Asia Pacific, Eric Raynaud, said BNP Paribas was confident that BIA's business model would be embraced by Asian markets.

"Our participation in BondsInAsia is perfectly in line with BNP Paribas' fixed income strategy in Asia Pacific, which is to provide integrated solutions for debt, interest rate and forex risks for our government, institutional and corporate clients. BNP Paribas already has a strong coordinated presence, both for trading and marketing, in the main financial hubs of Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney, and also in Bangkok, Mumbai, Seoul, Taipei and Manila."

"BNP Paribas' investment in BondsInAsia demonstrates once again the commitment of BNP Paribas, as a major player and partner, to the development of the financial markets in the Asia Pacific," Mr Raynaud said.

Mr Cobetto said the BIA platform will assist the development of local capital markets by providing a single point of access for prices and related information, thus more efficiently bringing dealers and clients together and ultimately increasing liquidity.

"We are progressing well with the development of the platform. Systems testing is underway. We are receiving strong interest in our unique business model from financial institutions in our key markets. In addition, our Hong Kong and Singapore offices are almost fully staffed after an aggressive search for top financial, technical and marketing expertise," he said.

"BIA's primary focus is on trade execution. Its functionality has been developed by some of the most experienced bond dealers in the world. The BIA platform provides the technology to execute trades, thereby increasing the liquidity in these markets."

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About BondsInAsia

BondsInAsiaTM was formed in 2000 to develop a sophisticated electronic trading platform for fixed income securities in the Asia region.

The BondsInAsia system supports multi-dealer functionality in local currency bonds and allows market makers and institutions to complete Asian fixed income deals on-line with speed and efficiency. The system will provide prices for domestic Asian government and corporate bonds, and reserve currency denominated Asian credits.

Individual BondsInAsia franchises have been created in each local market throughout Asia and local dealers participate in the ownership and governance of the BondsInAsia franchise in their local market.

BondsInAsia provides the infrastructure, security and operational services for the trading platform, allowing the local franchise to minimise the cost of ownership. Clients benefit from reduced transaction costs, increased transparency of pricing and systems automation, enabling other benefits such as straight-through processing and automated settlement. The platform provides a single point of access for all parties.

BondsInAsia is a joint venture company owned by BNP Paribas, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, HSBC and BRIDGE eMarkets.


About BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas is a major player in the areas of corporate banking, capital markets, international private banking and asset management and has one of the most extensive international networks in the world with offices in 87 countries.

The Asia Pacific region is the largest and most important market for BNP Paribas outside of Europe. The bank has more than 3,800 employees in 15 Asian countries and territories, outside of Japan.

Hong Kong and Singapore are the twin pillars of the BNP Paribas operations in Asia ex-Japan. Each boasts product specialists, powerful research teams, modern dealing rooms and sophisticated back offices.

BNP Paribas' large, yet focused, presence in the Asia Pacific region is the result of a long-term policy of commitment and consistent expansion built up over many decades.

In Asia Pacific during 2000, BNP Paribas lead-managed the largest EURO bond issue (Telstra EUR 1 Billion 5 year issue).

In the local asian currency bond markets, BNP Paribas holds a significant franchise in the HKD bond markets through BNP Paribas Oakreed. BNP Paribas is also a primary dealer in Korea and has received the Approved Bond Intermediary Status in Singapore for the SGD Bond market. In Philippines, BNP Paribas did act last year as advisor to the Republic of Philippines for the arranging of the PHP 8 Billion PROgress Bonds issue, which it did also lead underwrite and manage jointly with other top Philippines financial institutions. This domestic local currency deal was nominated the "Most Innovative Deal of the Year 2000" (source Finance Intelligence Asia).