Commenting, Alan Burnell, managing director of European fixed income trading at Deutsche Bank says: "We are looking to centralise our pools of liquidity in all of our markets. eSpeed has proved that its leading technology and robust platform can help us expand our price distribution and market-making information to achieve this goal."

European securities currently account for almost one half of the world's debt issues, and the young, Euro-denominated securities market is expected to grow at an unprecedented rate.

New York-based eSpeed, an offshoot of Cantor Fitzgerlad, currently provides the marketplace infrastructure for 48 financial and non-financial instruments. The company has just reported record results for the second quarter ended 30 June, 2001, raising revenues by 52 percent to $34.1 million versus $22.5 million in the same period in 2000.

Second quarter fully electronic revenue grew 57 percent year-over-year to $20.8 million. Total revenue from software solutions in the second quarter 2001 increased 68 percent over the comparable period last year. Software solutions includes technology revenue associated with TradeSpark, Freedom and Cantor Fitzgerald and software revenue associated with the company's software licensing agreements.

The company reported a net operating loss, excluding non-cash charges and taxes, of $0.5 million or ($0.01) per share, significantly down from the $9.1 million loss reported in the second quarter ended 30 June, 2000.

eSpeed has also been buouyed by a positive preliminary ruling on the scope of the Wagner Patent which the company acquired in April. The ruling concerns a pending patent infringement lawsuit in which eSpeed has sued the Chicago Board of Trade and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. eSpeed believes that the method of electronic trading described by the Wagner Patent will generate several new partnership and software solutions opportunities with companies interested in developing and trading futures-related products.