ASIANET: Societe Generale Goes Live With Wireless Forex Trading from Cognotec

PARIS, May 19 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ -- Societe Generale (SG) has been working with Cognotec on the development of a remote foreign exchange dealing service which is enabled through Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) technology.  WAP is the emerging global standard for the delivery of wireless information services on digital mobile phones and other wireless devices.

The new facility allows individual banks to offer their clients real-time executable foreign exchange transactions via their mobile phones.  SG carried out its first remote trade at Forex 2000 in Paris this week and will continue live trials for several months. The bank intends to fully roll out the service at the end of the year.

As the world's leading supplier of e-commerce dealing solutions for foreign exchange and money markets, Cognotec has pioneered on-line foreign exchange dealing through its Internet-based AutoDeal LITE service. Cognotec will be demonstrating the trading of spot and forward foreign exchange positions from a WAP phone at Forex 2000 in Paris on 18 - 20 May.

"This extends the reach of Cognotec's Internet-based dealing services by adding a new way to access them.  It is no longer necessary for individuals to be at their desk to trade foreign exchange," said Paul Fox, Chief Technology Officer at Cognotec.

"At SG, we are happy to be at the cutting edge of communications technology in partnership with Cognotec.  Cognotec has a long history of keeping banks ahead of the game by providing the best trading systems and services on the market.  The combination of our leading position in the Foreign Exchange industry and Cognotec's innovation in the field of e-commerce will help us stay ahead of our competition," said Scott Horwitz Managing Director of Foreign Exchange of SG USA.

Notes -- Background to Cognotec

Cognotec is the world's leading supplier of Internet technology-based automated trading solutions for banks. Founded in the early 1990's in Dublin, it now employs over 240 staff world-wide.  Its flagship product is the electronic trading service AutoDeal LITE, widely recognised as the trading model of the future for the global foreign exchange market.

The Cognotec AutoDeal LITE service operates across the world wide web and forms the backbone of electronic dealing systems across the globe, providing real-time executable prices across the full range of foreign exchange and money market products. As global competition and the growth of the Internet forces banks to review how they trade, Cognotec AutoDeal LITE provides powerful and cost-effective solutions for linking treasury departments with their internal and external customers.

Recognising Cognotec's position at the cutting edge of automated trading technology, leading e-commerce company Softbank Corp. the largest investor in Yahoo! And E*Trade, has made strategic investments in Cognotec totalling $40 million.  The investment represents a milestone in Cognotec's development as a leading player in the business to business e-commerce sector and guarantees that the rapid expansion the company has enjoyed will continue well into the next millennium.  Softbank is already a partner with Cognotec in a joint venture launched in 1999, which distributes Cognotec's internet trading service to Japanese and Korean banks and other financial institutions.

The investment by Softbank comes in the wake of a significant investment by Warburg, Pincus & Co, the leading global investor in technology companies ,in 1998.

More than sixty banks have already selected the Cognotec AutoDeal LITE service to enhance their e-commerce trading abilities.  Clients include UBS, Royal Bank of Canada, Lloyds TSB, Deutsche Bank, Tokyo, Fuji Bank, Societe Generale NY, West Deutsche Landesbank, First Union Bank, Swedbank and Scotia Capital.

What is AutoDealing?

AutoDealing brings internet technology to bank treasury departments, enabling them to support their internal or external customers with unique, deal specific, executable prices without direct involvement from the dealers unless they wish.  It has many advantages over traditional phone-based dealing including rapid transactions, error reduction and automatic confirmation and settlement.  As each user logs on with an exclusive ID, the system can quote a different rate for each customer -- rather than the day rate that is commonly used for most small value transactions.  It performs a real-time credit check before quoting a price and automatically monitors the buying profile of each of the bank's clients.  Password protection, encryption systems and the division of dealing and settlement functions ensure security is high, and systems can be configured to involve a dealer in the quotation when required. This in-depth pricing and control ensure the dealing room optimise their client pricing and control of their dealing activities.

With the growth of the Internet and increasing global competition in the banking world, many banks are using automated trading systems to restructure the way they handle FX and money market transactions. By using internet-based solutions like AutoDeal LITE, banks can benefit from reduced costs, provide a better service to their customers and enable their dealing-room staff to focus their efforts on more complex deals and marketing for new business.  Cognotec has established itself as the leading e-commerce technology partner for financial institutions looking to leverage the power of the Internet for faster, more secure FX and money market trading.

About Societe Generale

SG is the commercial and investment banking arm of the Societe Generale Group.  Present in over 60 countries and with expertise in capital markets, advisory and origination services, structured finance and commercial banking, SG builds innovative, integrated financial solutions for its corporate, institutional and public sector clients.  SG is one of the leading European investment banks in foreign exchange.  As a global organisation, SG offers 24-hour services to corporate and institutional treasurers around the world. SG's recognised expertise on derivatives and strong innovation capabilities enable SG to customise products according to market opportunities and clients' specific needs.  SG has been very active during the past year in developing new Internet services especially in the foreign exchange area.

SOURCE:  Cognotec

CONTACT: John Norris of Moonlight Media, +44-20-7250-4770, or

Web site:  http://www.cognotec.com