Yieldbroker.com today announced that Macquarie Bank has agreed to make an equity investment in the company and will acquire a board seat with equal voting rights along side its founding sponsors, Deutsche Bank, Salomon Smith Barney, UBS Warburg and Westpac.

Macquarie Bank's investment in Yieldbroker will give it an equal shareholding with the company's founding sponsors and comes at a time when site usage is accelerating, with total trading volumes reaching A$900 million since its launch in late May 2001. Client volumes in August alone have reached A$500 million. Yieldbroker also recently announced it would become the primary source of rate data for the UBS Warburg and SSB Australian Bond Indices. 

Yieldbroker's General Manager, Rachael Rogers, said the deal with Macquarie Bank was a logical step in the evolution of the portal and expected additional market-makers to follow.

"We are delighted to welcome Macquarie Bank as an equity participant in Yieldbroker. Macquarie Bank has a strong presence in the Australian and New Zealand fixed income markets and supports our vision of being the portal of choice in this region." Ms Rogers said. "Yieldbroker remains the only multi-contributor fixed income research and trading portal that is operating for the Australasian markets, and we now have the backing of five of the leading Australian and New Zealand market-makers. We expect to welcome further participation as the business continues to evolve in response to customer demands."

Macquarie Bank's Head of Debt Markets, Mr Paul Bide, said "We are pleased to join Yieldbroker as an equity participant. Yieldbroker has demonstrated a strong commitment and a clear vision for fast and secure electronic trade execution for the dealer to client market. We look forward to joining the platform and contributing to the liquidity and price transparency already available via Yieldbroker."

Commenting on the addition of Macquarie Bank to the Yieldbroker platform, Russell Maddox, portfolio manager at Merrill Lynch Investment Managers, said, "'Electronic trading through services such as Yieldbroker will be an increasing part of the market. The addition of liquidity providers of the stature of Macquarie Bank will add significant value to Yieldbroker. "

Yieldbroker.com, operating since May 2000, launched its multi-contributor fixed income trading platform in May 2001 following government and regulatory approval, a first for the Australian bond market. 

Macquarie Bank, headquartered in Sydney, provides a full range of investment banking, commercial banking and retail financial services in Australia and in selected markets around the world. 

For further information contact:
Rachael Rogers
General Manager
Yieldbroker Pty Ltd
Tel. 9221 9660
Email:<