BankBoston Joins Launch of Electronic Trade Network.

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 1998--BankBoston Thursday announced that it is one of 14 global banks participating in the launch of Bolero, an integrated internet-based platform designed to facilitate international trade.

The system will provide secure electronic delivery of global trade documentation, eliminating the paper-intensive system currently in place.

"BankBoston strives to be on the leading edge of technology that facilitates international trade. Our involvement in the Bolero program is an important part of that strategy," said Tom Kingston, BankBoston's managing director of Global Trade.

Bolero Operations Ltd., is a joint venture between SWIFT, the global financial telecommunications network, and the Through Transport Club, an industry association of companies involved in the logistics and insurance aspects of trade. The entity is working closely with financial institutions, corporations, shipping lines, and freight forwarders around the world to implement this system.

BankBoston is partnering with Hasbro, a key customer and major international company, in one of the system's prototype transaction chains.

Lloyd Edwards, Hasbro's vice president, Manufacturing Control, in Hong Kong, is enthusiastic about Bolero's prospects. "We are always looking to technology to improve our supply chain management. We're confident that teaming up with BankBoston for the Bolero launch program will lead us to a more efficient way of managing our flow of products and cash."

The mission of the Bolero is to provide guaranteed and secure delivery in electronic form, of trade documentation globally, based on a binding legal environment and common procedures; and to provide a platform for provision of neutral cross-industry services.

Participation in the Bolero Launch Program has been strictly limited to 12 transaction chains and a trading cluster in the oil sector. Each transaction chain is led by a "Driver" company which makes key business decisions, and includes the various parties to a trade flow, such as shippers, freight forwarders, and banks who participate in the chain.

The key objectives of the program are to provide participants with an opportunity to test functionality and assess the operational requirements of the system.

BankBoston (NYSE: BKB), with assets of $73.8 billion and some 25,000 employees, is the nation's oldest commercial bank and New England's only global bank.

BankBoston is engaged in consumer, small business, and corporate banking in New England; delivering sophisticated financial solutions to corporations and governments nationally and internationally; and full-service banking in leading Latin American markets.

The Corporation's common stock is listed on the New York and Boston stock exchanges.