Six Top Wall Street Firms Form "Securities.Hub" to Host New E-Commerce Marketplaces

Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Salomon Smith Barney team with Communicator Inc. on financial portals for institutional investors


Each firm retains control of its brand, distribution, content
A model for other industries

NEW YORK--March 13, 2000--Six top Wall Street firms and Communicator Inc. today jointly announced the creation of "Securities.Hub," an e-commerce company that will host a series of online marketplaces linking firms with institutional investors around the globe. Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Salomon Smith Barney will own a majority interest in the venture. Communicator Inc., which will provide the infrastructure and operate the business, will own a minority interest.

The venture will greatly expand the scope and reach of the highly successful "Bond.Hub" portal launched in December 1999 by Communicator Inc. for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter and Salomon Smith Barney. Communicator will incorporate the Bond.Hub product within Securities.Hub, which will offer additional online marketplaces for corporations and institutions within the capital markets arena. Under the new structure, J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch will join with the original participants on Bond.Hub as equal equity owners and participants in Securities.Hub.

On a daily basis, the three firms presently participating in Bond.Hub post price indications on more than $10 billion in fixed income securities, a figure that will significantly increase with the addition of J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch.

The next addition to Securities.Hub - the details of which will be announced in the coming weeks -- will utilize the hub structure to provide commingled listings of new-issue debt securities and ready access to the online sites of the underwriting firms.

Communicator Inc., which builds "Hubs" for leading companies in vertical industries, will operate and expand the number of portals within Securities.Hub under a service contact. Leo Schlinkert, CEO of Communicator Inc. and former head of the predecessor e-commerce group at Salomon Smith Barney, said the securities industry was the logical area in which to introduce the "Hub" model of business-to-business e-commerce because of its wide experience in information technology and delivery.

"Our Hub model delivers a 'clicks and mortar' solution to industry leaders who want to capitalize on the efficiency of e-commerce while maintaining their own control of transactions, content, distribution and brand," Schlinkert said. "We fill the vital need for a trusted third party that facilitates online markets between suppliers and customers."

"Securities.Hub enables us to effectively address how the revolution of technology plays into the evolution of our fixed income business," said Thomas G. Maheras, Global Head of Fixed Income at Salomon Smith Barney. "Unlike similar linkages which tend to be exclusionary, the hub structure encourages broad issuer and investor participation by giving them what they need in a centralized site."

Nick Rohatyn, Managing Director and head of LabMorgan at J.P. Morgan, commented: "A primary goal of our e-finance effort is empowering our clients with tools that boost their efficiency. Bond.Hub, as well as future offerings from the Securities.Hub platform, joins our other LabMorgan initiatives as an effective tool in our clients' arsenal."

"Securities.Hub will complement the e-connectivity already offered to clients by Direct Markets-Merrill Lynch's institutional e-commerce business. The ability to display our fixed-income research and offerings to investors through Securities.Hub will dovetail naturally with the other components of our Direct Markets site," said Michael Packer, head of Merrill Lynch Direct Markets.

"With Securities.Hub's commingled solutions, clients of Lehman Brothers will obtain an exponential increase in access to market content with the click of a mouse, thus enhancing their efficiency in the marketplace," said Dexter Senft, Director of Fixed Income E-Commerce at Lehman Brothers.

Said Ken deRegt, Worldwide Head of Fixed Income at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter: "We are excited about the efficiencies and benefits that the products offered through Securities.Hub will provide to our clients."

Vic Simone, Managing Director, E-Commerce at Goldman Sachs, added: "The hub commingled solution exponentially boosts clients access to content and accordingly, helps both the buyers and sellers take advantage of the growing opportunities in electronic commerce."

The addition of J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch is expected to increase the number of institutional customers with access to Bond.Hub from 8,000 presently to more than 12,000. Each customer will benefit from Bond.Hub's:
Seamless navigation between participating dealers' sites, saving valuable time for fixed-income institutional investors
Price indications on fixed-income instruments offered by participating dealers
Consolidated headlines on research and market commentary produced by the dealer for fixed income customers
Ability to search participating dealers' research
Messaging and e-mail functionality for all registered users
Launched in December 1999, Bond.Hub was developed to provide customers of the individual dealers with a single sign-on and commingled content, but without the associated information overload. These clients automatically receive Bond.Hub when they go to any of the dealer sites. The dealers continue to maintain their individual sites while Bond.Hub aggregates information from each site on its portal site.



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About J.P. Morgan (NYSE: JPM):
J.P. Morgan & Co. Incorporated is a leading global financial firm that meets critical financial needs for business enterprises, governments, and individuals. The firm advises on corporate strategy and structure, raises capital, makes markets in financial instruments, and manages investment assets. Morgan also commits its own capital to promising enterprises and invests and trades to capture market opportunities.

About Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH):
Lehman Brothers is a global investment bank serving the financial needs of corporations, institutions, governments and high-net-worth investors worldwide. Lehman Brothers actively participates in the global capital markets through a closely integrated network of 39 offices anchored by a worldwide headquarters in New York and regional headquarters in London and Tokyo. Since Lehman Brothers was founded in 1850, it has built a global reputation for providing state-of-the-art research, distribution, trading and financing services.

About Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER):
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading financial management and advisory companies with offices in 43 countries and total client assets exceeding $1.7 trillion. As an investment bank, it is the top global underwriter and market maker of debt and equity securities and a leading strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals worldwide. Through its Asset Management Group, the company is one of the world's largest managers of financial assets.

About Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS):
Goldman Sachs is a leading global investment banking and securities firm, providing a full range of investing, advisory and financing services worldwide to a substantial and diversified client base, which includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high net worth individuals. Founded in 1869, it is one of the oldest and largest investment banking firms. The Firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world.

About Morgan Stanley Dean Witter (NYSE: MWD):
Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. is a preeminent global financial services company and a market leader in securities, asset management, and credit services. The company's top-ranked research, along with world class product origination, asset management and other extensive resources create a unique combination of capabilities that provide both individual and institutional clients with access to the most comprehensive array of high quality products and services in the financial services industry today. The Company has offices in New York, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other principal financial centers around the world and has 475 branch offices serving individual investors throughout the United States.

About Salomon Smith Barney (subsidiary of Citigroup; NYSE: C):
Citigroup's Global Corporate and Investment Bank brings together the world's most global corporate bank, Citibank, with a leading global investment bank, Salomon Smith Barney, to provide complete financial solutions to corporations, governments, institutions and individuals in 100 countries. Award-winning businesses include corporate and investment banking services, investment advice, financial planning and commercial insurance products. Additional information on Citigroup (NYSE:C) can be found at www.citigroup.com.

About Communicator Inc.:
Communicator Inc. builds "Hubs" that provide global e-commerce business-to-business solutions for all industries. Communicator develops and supports online communities to give industry leaders ownership and control of electronic business-to-business opportunities. By fulfilling the vital role of a trusted third party, Communicator brings together suppliers and customers in an online marketplace with global reach. Communicator's "Securities.Hub" is a joint-venture company majority-owned by six leading Wall Street firms.

http://www.communicator.com/pr/PR_2000_03_13_SecuritiesHub.html