Bear Stearns Launches Innovative, Internet-Based Fixed Income Distribution Systems.

Business &Technology Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 4, 2000

Bear, Stearns &Co. Inc. today announced the launch of two proprietary online fixed income distribution systems, advancing the firm's commitment to combining technology and e-markets to offer high-value-added products and services for its clients. Internet Bond Offering Syndication System (iBOSS), an electronic new-issue information and order entry system, and Dutch Auction Internet Syndicate System (DAISS), are important innovations in providing improved client access to credit market information and in increasing the efficiency of execution of fixed income transactions.

iBOSS provides Internet-based order entry for institutional and individual investors and is integrated with Bear Stearns' settlement and clearing systems. Clients have access to the full scope of deal information, including offering documents, terms of the offering, relative value analysis and credit research. The system will be accessible to all existing subscribers of www.bearstearns.com.

DAISS combines all the advantages of iBOSS with a modified Dutch auction pricing engine to provide issuers and investors with an automated, transparent system for pricing and distributing new-issue securities. Through the DAISS process, new-issue pricing and order allocation will be determined based upon the auction rules. DAISS, which is the first system available for new-issue syndication online, is also capable of managing secondary market liability transactions for sovereign clients and the private sector.

Peter Cherasia, director of e-commerce and chief information officer, said, &uot;iBOSS and DAISS are the most recent examples of Bear Stearns' leadership position as an innovator in the development of e-markets. These systems reflect the integration of the Internet with the traditional fixed income new-issue syndication process and the widely used Dutch auction pricing mechanism. These innovations are in direct response to the demands of customers and clients for more efficient transaction execution, faster access to information and new-issue pricing transparency.&uot;

In addition, Custodial Trust Company, Bear Stearns' FDIC-insured commercial banking subsidiary, today launched E-LT, an electronic letter-of-transmittal system that represents a major innovation in the processing of tender and exchange offers. This Internet-based system completely automates the formerly paper-intensive process through which banks and custodians respond to tender and exchange offers on behalf of their investors. E-LT is the natural extension of the firm's already successful Bond Exchange Transaction System (BETS), an integrated system for receiving, processing and verifying letters of transmittal, as well as settling tender and exchange transactions.

Founded in 1923, Bear, Stearns &Co. Inc., a leading worldwide investment banking and securities trading and brokerage firm, is the major subsidiary of The Bear Stearns Companies Inc. (NYSE: BSC). With approximately $22.2 billion of total capital, Bear Stearns serves governments, corporations, institutions and private investors worldwide. The company's business includes corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions, institutional equities and fixed income sales, trading and research, private client services, derivatives, foreign exchange and futures sales and trading, asset management and custody services. Through Bear, Stearns Securities Corp., it offers professional and correspondent clearing, including securities lending. Headquartered in New York City, the company has approximately 10,100 employees located in domestic offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Puerto Rico and San Francisco; and an international presence in Beijing, Buenos Aires, Dublin, Hong Kong, London, Lugano, Sao Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore and Tokyo. For additional information about Bear Stearns, please visit our Web site at www.bearstearns.com.