Bloomberg Trading Platform for Sri Lanka Bonds Active

Bloomberg Trading Platform for Sri Lanka Bonds Active

July 24, 2006

    NEW YORK, July 24 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- Bloomberg, the
global data, analytics and news provider, announced that the
Bloomberg E-Bond platform for Sri Lanka Government Bonds is
active on the BLOOMBERG PROFESSIONAL(R) service. 

    With Bloomberg E-Bond, Sri Lanka Primary Dealers now
benefit from a flexible, commission-free dealing, trade
capture and reporting mechanism, while seamlessly offering
global investors and market oversight entities a real-time
view of price quotations and market activity for Sri Lanka
Government Securities.  Bloomberg E-Bond for Sri Lanka
Government Securities is available to qualified users of
the BLOOMBERG PROFESSIONAL(R) service via the functions
LPBT < GO > and LPSM < GO >.  

    The 12 participating Sri Lanka Primary Dealer firms on
Bloomberg E-Bond include Bank of Ceylon, Capital Alliance
Limited, Ceylinco Shriram Securities Limited, Commercial
Bank of Ceylon Limited, Employee Provident Fund, First
Capital Treasuries Limited, HNB Securities Limited, NSB
Fund Management Company, National Wealth Corporation
Limited, People's Bank, Sampath Bank and Seylan Bank Asset
Management Limited.  

    Pubudu Champike of People's Bank commented, "With
Bloomberg E-Bond, in addition to the ability to enter my
own orders, I can also ask for quotes from other dealers. 
The best bids/offers in the market are displayed
prominently as well as the market depth.  This price
transparency and immediate trade reporting greatly enhances
the efficiency of the Sri Lanka Government
Securities."

    "The price discovery mechanism will help improve
liquidity in the secondary market," said Vasantha
Kumar, Chairman of the Association of Primary Dealers
("APD").  "By using a world class platform
with world class technology, Bloomberg E-Bond immediately
puts Sri Lanka in the forefront of electronic bond trading,
and the fact that Bloomberg E-bond does not charge
commission for trades makes it all the more
attractive."

    The APD will consider any secondary player's
application to join the E-Bond favorably in a bid to
improve market efficiency.  "Ultimately, what is good
for everyone can only be great for the market," said
Ajith Fernando, CEO of Capital Alliance Limited. 

    About Bloomberg E-Bond

    Bloomberg E-Bond, available to qualified users of the
BLOOMBERG PROFESSIONAL(R) service via the main menu
function EB < GO >, is a global electronic trading
system for bonds and treasury bills.  Bloomberg E-Bond
offers a unique multi-dealer Request For Quote
("RFQ") and anonymous quotation bulletin board,
along with Straight-Through-Processing ("STP")
features and real-time market activity displays.  The
Bloomberg E-Bond platform offers trading in bonds and
treasury bills without transaction fees and will play a key
role in fostering price transparency and liquidity in
financial markets in Asia.

    With Bloomberg E-Bond's RFQ module, market-makers are
able to request for market quotes from multiple
counterparties and are able to effectively handle multiple
transactions at any given time in an active market.  

    Another module of Bloomberg E-Bond allows dealers to
send orders in response to anonymous quotations.  This
module can be used separately from the RFQ module and
contains an individual counterparty credit database set by
each dealer which reveals the identities of the
counterparties to a proposed trade. 
    
    Bloomberg E-Bond is now being implemented across Asia,
including Indonesia with 25 participating firms, Singapore
with 11 firms, the Philippines with 24 firms, and Sri Lanka
with 12 firms.  In addition to a secondary market trading
platform, Bloomberg also offers its Bloomberg Auction
System to qualified participants, allowing government debt
issuers to conduct their primary market auctions via the
same platform.  Consolidating primary and secondary market
trading mechanisms can reduce the costs borne by dealers
for participation and integration for Straight-Through
Processing ("STP") purposes.  With Bloomberg's
widely distributed technology, including the use by many
Primary Dealers of the Bloomberg position-keeping and
risk-management system (TOMS), Bloomberg E-Bond offers STP
with no transaction fees and minimal implementation and
integration costs for banks.  As Bloomberg E-Bond is
adopted by more countries that seek to develop more
cross-border flow, the efficiencies of the platform should
continue to grow in value.

    About Bloomberg

    Bloomberg is the leading global provider of data, news
and analytics.  The BLOOMBERG PROFESSIONAL(R) service and
Bloomberg's media services provide real-time and archived
financial and market data, pricing, trading, news and
communications tools in a single, integrated package to
corporations, news organizations, financial and legal
professionals and individuals around the world. 
Bloomberg's media services include the global BLOOMBERG
NEWS(R) service with more than 2,000 professionals in 126
bureaus worldwide; the BLOOMBERG TELEVISION(R) 24-hour
business and financial network produced and distributed
worldwide on ten separate channels in seven languages; and
BLOOMBERG RADIO(SM) services which provide up-to-the-minute
news on XM, Sirius and WorldSpace satellite radio around the
world and on WBBR 1130AM in New York.  In addition,
Bloomberg publishes Bloomberg Markets(R) magazine and
BLOOMBERG PRESS(R) books for investment professionals.  For
more information please visit http://www.bloomberg.com .

    For more information, please contact:

     Judith Czelusniak
     Bloomberg LP
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Victoria Moore
     Bloomberg LP
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail] 

SOURCE  Bloomberg