Cognotec's New AutoDeal Direct Gives Banks Immediate Online FX Trading Capability PARIS, May 19 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- Cognotec, the world's leading provider of E-commerce trading solutions for foreign exchange and money markets, has launched the Cognotec AutoDeal DIRECT service. The Cognotec AutoDeal DIRECT service allows smaller banks and other financial service organisations the ability to outsource foreign exchange market making, while delivering an Internet based foreign exchange execution service to their clients. AutoDeal DIRECT can be up and running within days of the bank contracting with Cognotec. AutoDeal DIRECT is the latest product from Dublin-based Cognotec whose flagship AutoDeal LITE service has already been selected by more than 60 banks world-wide. AutoDeal DIRECT requires less technical infrastructure than AutoDeal LITE and allows smaller banks and financial institutions to implement an Internet-based foreign exchange solution at much lower cost and more quickly than ever before. AutoDeal DIRECT allows bank users the ability to offer their clients (providing the appropriate credit lines are in place) any currency, for any date and any amount crossed with any other currency in real time -- without the bank assuming market risk. AutoDeal DIRECT will hedge the bank user's market exposure in real-time by automatically creating a back-to-back deal with the bank's chosen liquidity provider. Crucially, the bank's client details are not passed on to the market risk-taking institution. Commonwealth Bank of Australia is a liquidity provider in Australian and New Zealand dollars for members of the AutoDeal DIRECT service. "Commonwealth Bank is a market leader in E-commerce in the domestic Australian markets and we are excited at the prospect of leveraging off this experience to provide Australian and New Zealand price support through Cognotec AutoDeal DIRECT, said Rick Lloyd, Global Head of Foreign Exchange at CBA. He continued: "Commonwealth Bank intends to access existing institutional relationships through the system as well as providing expertise to new clients in Australasian currencies." Frankfurt-based DG Bank is at the centre of a network of affiliated co-operative banks across Europe. It will be using AutoDeal DIRECT to facilitate foreign exchange trading across this structure. "Our affiliate banks can maintain their branding and keep client details confidential while at the same time enjoying the risk-reduction and efficiency benefits of a centralised trading desk," said Arnd Stricker, General Manager, Head of Treasury at DG Bank. AutoDeal DIRECT will enable small and medium-sized national and regional banks to greatly enhance the foreign exchange service they are able to offer clients -- while at the same time making considerable efficiency and cost savings compared to manual trading processes. US mid-western bank Fifth Third has found that it can offer its clients greatly enhanced service levels. "After researching what was offered in the market, we decided that the most important factors in choosing a product was the ability to offer a user-friendly trading system that could handle a variety of basic trading products as well as more advanced functions, such as block trading capabilities for our more active customers," said Shari Kempf, VP Foreign Exchange, Fifth Third Bank. She continued: "We felt that Cognotec could help us provide the highest quality service to our customers. AutoDeal DIRECT is a bonus which enables us to offer trading facilities to our banking counterparties." HypoVereinsbank is Germany's second largest bank, serving more than 4 million customers. "We are on the brink of a major revolution in institutional execution and Cognotec is in the vanguard. Cognotec offers institutions a phenomenal opportunity to harness state of the art technology to extend market reach and achieve cost efficiencies," commented Robert S. Millns, Managing Director, HVB NY Foreign Exchange. The Cognotec AutoDeal DIRECT service is accessed via the public Internet and run by Cognotec which is an Application Service Provider. As an ASP, Cognotec monitors, maintains and runs the AutoDeal DIRECT service from its Service Bureau. The bank users of the service are therefore able to concentrate on delivering a superior banking service to their customers. Another aspect of the ASP business model is transaction-based charging. This means the high up-front costs often associated with new technology are eradicated. Banks are charged on the basis of how much they use the service. Thus creating a closer link between their cost and revenue generating services. The AutoDeal DIRECT web access screen is customised with the bank's branding. The bank can establish appropriate transaction pricing for their specific client groups. The service ensures that each of the banks foreign exchange transactions are fully hedged thus reducing the risk profile of the bank. "AutoDeal DIRECT is a vital tool for small and mid-sized banks who wish to enhance the service levels they are able to offer their foreign exchange clients while at the same time decreasing their market risk and controlling transaction costs. It allows financial service companies of all sizes to participate profitably in the foreign exchange industry as E-commerce reshapes the banking industry," said Albert Maasland, Global Head of Marketing at Cognotec. Cognotec will be exhibiting at the 41st International ACI Forex Congress in Paris from 18 May to 20 May 2000. Demonstrations of AutoDeal DIRECT will be available, as will interviews with senior members of staff. SOURCE: Cognotec CONTACT: John Norris of Moonlight Media, +44-20-7250-4770, or [email protected], for Cognotec Web site: http://www.cognotec.com