with direct access to AMS/3
(HONG KONG, 19 February 2001) Hutchison CSFBdirect today announced that it has launched its direct linkage to the Automatic Order Matching & Execution System ("AMS/3") to provide investors with more convenient, efficient, speedy and secured online investing services.
Hutchison CSFBdirect's customers can now place orders directly to the Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing's trading system via www.HCBdirect.com through the Internet and WAP-enabled mobile phones.
Ms. Rosemary McFadden, Acting Chief Executive Officer of Hutchison CSFBdirect, said, "We are excited to share our online trading success with Hong Kong investors via our proprietary Internet platform. With straight through processing to AMS/3, together with the support of our technology arm, iNautix Technologies, our expertise and proven track record of online trading in other markets, we ensure that our online investors will receive high quality service."
"Following our launch at the beginning of the year, we are pleased to have received encouraging response from Hong Kong investors. We are confident that we will become the leading online broker in Hong Kong and will continue to expand and diversify our value added investment services." Ms. McFadden concluded.
Hutchison CSFBdirect was officially launched on January 12, 2001. Its customers will continue to enjoy what has come to be referred to as the "4 FREEs", i.e. (i)no account opening fees, (ii)no minimum balance, (iii)no minimum deposit, and (iv)no maintenance fees. Following the launch, Hutchison CSFBdirect is currently offering a special promotional program, where its customers can enjoy free real-time quotes and trading commission rebates of HK$888 until the end of March, 2001. Also, a competitive commission fee of 0.2% is offered from January to end of April 2001.
About the Company:
Hutchison CSFBdirect (http://www.HCBdirect.com), headquartered in Hong Kong, is a leading online broker, which provides self-directed investors with the information and tools they need to better control their personal investments. Hutchison CSFBdirect is a joint venture established in 2000 between Hutchison Whampoa Limited and DLJdirect Inc., now known as CSFBdirect.
Hutchison CSFBdirect provides online brokerage services to Hong Kong investors, and gives them access to a range of financial products in the local as well as international markets. Hutchison CSFBdirect aims to provide quality services that meet the global investment needs of its clients through a secured technology platform.
Hutchison Whampoa is a Hong Kong-based multinational conglomerate with a market capitalization of about US$53 billion. With origins dating back to the 1800s, Hutchison is also part of the Li Ka-shing group of companies, which together represent about 15% of the total market capitalization of the Hong Kong stock market. In 1999, consolidated turnover was over US$7.1 billion, and earnings after tax and exceptional items were approximately US$15.1 billion
With close to 100,000 employees worldwide, Hutchison operates five core businesses in 28 countries: ports and related services; telecommunications and e-commerce; property and hotels; retail and manufacturing; and energy and infrastructure.
Worldwide, the Group is one of the leading owners and operators of Internet and telecommunications infrastructure, offering a wide range of related services. These include fixed-line services, internet services, fiber optics broadband networks, mobile telephony (voice and data), paging, trunked mobile radio, VSAT and radio broadcasting services.
Hutchison's telecommunications and e-commerce related operations have been growing rapidly. The Company has teamed up with Global Crossing to further expand its global connectivity and to pursue fibre optic broadband network opportunities in the Greater China Region. Cooperation with NTT DoCoMo, which owns 19% of Hutchison's mobile communications businesses in Hong Kong offers its customers advanced mobile Internet opportunities. Recently the Group has won 3G licences in Italy and Sweden with local partners and Austria respectively. Hutchison had earlier won the bid for the largest 3G licence in the UK and subsequently formed Hutchison 3G UK -- a joint venture company with NTT DoCoMo and KPN Mobile, to build and operate a national Universal Mobile Telecommunications System network.
CSFBdirect is one of the world's premier online brokerage firms offering a diversified range of investment products and services to sophisticated, self-directed investors. As of December 31, 2000, CSFBdirect had over one million worldwide customer accounts representing nearly US$23 billion in assets.
CSFBdirect has received numerous honors over the past year, including number one for "Transaction Performance and Transaction Success Rate" in December 2000 by Keynote Systems, Inc.; "Best for Site Reliability" in August 2000 by TheStreet.com's Online Broker Survey; "Top Online Broker" by the 2000 Readers' Choice Awards, Worth magazine; "Best of the Web" in August 2000 by Forbes.com; "Best Bet, Feature Rich" in May 2000 by PC World magazine; and a "4-Star Rating" in Spring 2001 by Barron's magazine.
Headquartered in Jersey City, NJ with offices in Parsippany, NJ, Charlotte, NC, Delray Beach, FL, Sandy City, UT, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Dubai, CSFBdirect employs more than 1,800 people. CSFBdirect trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "DIR" as a tracking stock of Credit Suisse First Boston (USA), Inc. For more information on CSFBdirect, visit the company's Web site at www.CSFBdirect.com.
Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) is a leading global investment banking firm serving institutional, corporate, government and individual clients. CSFB's businesses include securities underwriting, sales and trading, investment and merchant banking, financial advisory services, investment research, venture capital, correspondent brokerage services and online brokerage services. It operates in over 76 locations across more than 37 countries and 6 continents, and has some 28,000 staff worldwide. The Firm is a business unit of the Zurich based Credit Suisse Group, a leading global financial services company.
For press information, contact:
Hutchison CSFBdirect
Royce Yuen, 852-3151-1166 (royce.yuen@hcbdirect.com)
Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide
Fanny Suen 852-2884 8523 (fanny.suen@ogilvy.com)
Wendy Wu 852-2884 8542 (wendy.wu@ogilvy.com)