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Grant Street Group successfully conducted large-scale bond and note issues throughout 2008, including a $100 million bond auction for Miami-Dade County, Florida to fund their "Building Better Communities" program and four bond auctions for Ocean County, New Jersey with a total value exceeding $100 million. The Ocean County auctions were held on the Public Financial Management (PFM) private label site, where the open auction format provided the County with savings of nearly $100,000. Grant Street Group has hosted the PFM private-label web site for nearly 10 years.
Successful large-scale note auctions included a $977 million note auction for the City of Los Angeles and a $6.4 billion auction on the private label TRANTexas web site. A total of 15 bidders submitted 82 bids in the TRANTexas auction, where the notes received the highest ratings from Standard and Poor's, Moody's Investors, and Fitch Incorporated.
Federal agency clients such as Freddie Mac and the Tennessee Valley Authority continue to raise funds using Grant Street Group's AgencyAuctionTM. As of this month, Freddie Mac has successfully auctioned over $3.5 trillion in bills and notes; Tennessee Valley Authority over $63 billion.
Online auctions of guaranteed investment contracts (GICs) were also a major contributor in helping Grant Street Group reach the $10 trillion milestone. Grant Street Group's GICauctionTM website provides increased competition, transparency and unmatched record keeping capability. The IRS approved Grant Street Group's patented GIC auction process in September of 2007, and has issued proposed regulations stating that: "The Treasury Department and the IRS believe that electronic GIC bidding procedures generally offer the constructive potential for increasing the transparency of pricing of investments purchased with proceeds of tax-exempt bonds."
Certificate of Deposit (CD) auctions were yet another factor in reaching the $10 trillion volume mark. Ten State Treasurers currently use Grant Street Group private label web sites to invest their operating funds in CDs to banks of their choice. These auctions allow the State to benefit from a competitive investment rate, with the added benefit of investing millions of dollars in local banks. After a recent CD auction, Ohio State Treasurer Cordray said, "BidOhio puts the state's money to work in communities around the state allowing safe and solid return on our investments."
With a population of 1.8 million, Broward County is the second largest county in the state of Florida and the 15th largest in the nation. "This engagement is not only an important milestone for Grant Street, but also for the industry," said Myles Harrington, President of Grant Street Group. "Broward is the largest County in the Country to procure tax collection and billing software as a service, rather than as an installed solution. By choosing a hosted application that is delivered via internet, Broward is saving millions of dollars that would otherwise be spent installing and maintaining software on County-owned hardware," he added.
Broward's conversion to TaxSys is scheduled to be completed in only 15 months. This is possible for two reasons: 1) delivering revenue collection software as a service accelerates the design, test and implementation phases of system conversion, and 2) Grant Street has completed six other conversions from Manatron systems in the past 20 months.
Grant Street's most recently completed system conversion, for Pinellas County, took only 8 months. Commenting on this feat, Diane Nelson, Pinellas County Tax Collector said, "In a short timeframe, Grant Street migrated 4.5 million tax records from our outdated database to TaxSys. 99.9% were problem-free." Pinellas, like Broward, selected Grant Street Group's TaxSys application over Manatron's Government Revenue Management (GRM®) offering.
From the Wall Street Journal: "A closely watched auction of $3 billion in Freddie's short-term debt drew more bids than usual. The company was able to sell its three- and six-month notes at lower-than-expected yields, which in turn helped keep its borrowing costs low. Some market participants said much of the demand for the auction appeared to come from banks and brokers, rather than conservative money-market funds that are traditionally large buyers of short-term debt.
'Wall Street has the most interest in the issue and wanted to make sure it traded well,' said David Glocke, senior portfolio manager at Vanguard Group.
The auction, which followed weekend moves by the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve to offer backstop financing to Freddie and sister company Fannie Mae, helped ease concerns that the mortgage companies might not be able to roll over their maturing debt. It bodes well for other agency debt sales in coming days."
Wall Street Journal article.
"With the change in state law, Florida Clerks have a great opportunity to lead the way for their counterparts across the country - setting a new standard of efficiency and competition through online auctions," said Ian Yorty, Director of Florida Business Development for Grant Street Group.
To facilitate online sales, Grant Street Group has developed ClerkAuction™, a powerful online auction system designed specifically for Florida Clerks. This system will enable Clerks to replace their current tedious, labor-intensive live auctions with an automated online sale. Using ClerkAuction, Clerks will no longer have to dedicate staff, or pay for facilities and security when conducting their sales. The ever-growing volume of cases can also be scheduled for sale faster, putting the inventory of foreclosures back into the market, or tax deeds back onto the tax roll. "The benefits of an online sale will also extend to the customers," continued Mr. Yorty. "Its a win-win situation."
ClerkAuction provides strict internal controls with audit trails of all web site activity and keystrokes entered by bidders (bidder activity logs). This will eliminate the bidding discrepancies or bidder interference present in today's live auctions. Sale results are stored automatically, eliminating transcription errors, and the site stores official records in a secure and retrievable format.
The process is simple and radically reduces the amount of work involved in a sale. First, Clerks customize the look and feel of their ClerkAuction website. Bidders then access ClerkAuction from the Clerks home page, register for the sale, and bid online. The system provides useful information for bidders by linking to available case information, Property Appraiser, Tax Collector and GIS maps and images available on existing public web sites.
Real-time updates notify bidders when properties are removed or cancelled prior to the sale. After the sale closes, online forms are created and managed on the website and auto-populated with sale results. ClerkAuction generates sale results in seconds and allows deposits and payments to be submitted online, eliminating bidders' multiple trips to the courthouse.
For more information, please contact Ian Yorty, Director of Florida Business Development, at 305-710-8926, or Ian.Yorty@GrantStreet.com.
County Tax Collector Diane Nelson was impressed with both the speed and smoothness of the transition to TaxSys: "In a short timeframe, Grant Street migrated 4.5 million tax records from our outdated database to TaxSys. 99.9% were problem-free. We are happy to say that it has been a pleasure doing business with Grant Street Group".
With the upcoming addition of Broward County, Florida, TaxSys handles tax billing and collection for more than two million parcels in Florida. For more information, please contact Ian Yorty at (305) 710-8926, or Ian.Yorty@GrantStreet.com.
Assistant Tax Collector Larry Clancy was greatly pleased with DirecTDA's positive impact on efficiency: "In addition to working well the software accomplished its intended purpose - to save a great deal of time. We have processed about 300 [tax deed applications] and will continue to do more in the coming weeks."
St. Lucie enjoyed a number of additional conveniences as a result of the pre-existing integration between TaxSys, their web-based tax billing and collection system supplied by Grant Street Group, and DirecTDA. For example, there were no cumbersome data downloads between two different applications supplied by two different vendors. Using both TaxSys and DirecTDA clients can generate estimates, applications, payments and reports seamlessly and effortlessly.
We would welcome the opportunity to give you either an on-site demonstration or a phone demonstration of DirecTDA and/or TaxSys, which, with the addition of Broward County, handles tax billing and collection for more than two million parcels in Florida. For more information, please contact Jeff Harris at (412) 391-5555, or Jeff.Harris@GrantStreet.com.
For its courage, the City of Pittsburgh received the prestigious "Innovations in American Government Award" from Harvard University and the Ford Foundation. "The whole process was fascinating", said Paul Hennigan, former Finance Director for the City of Pittsburgh under Mayor Tom Murphy, who authorized the internet sale. "Prior to our sale, the internet was being used to auction Beanie Baby teddy bears and Pez candy dispensers on eBay. We took it to a whole new level in one transaction."
Since that first auction in November 1997, Grant Street Group has grown to become the largest auction house in the world (by dollar volume), hosting more than 81,000 auctions totaling over $9 trillion. Prominent clients include Freddie Mac, BNYMellon, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as well as more than 1,000 other state and local government and non-profit entities.
In 2006, there were three very significant events in the Company's history. First, Grant Street's Founders, Myles Harrington and Dan Veres, repurchased The Carlyle Group's minority stake in the Company. Second, the Company won a huge verdict in its patent infringement suit against Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC) - currently valued at more than $100 million (pending Thomson's appeal). And third, the Company launched an entirely new business, tax collection and billing systems, which already serves 8 Florida counties with an aggregate population exceeding 1.5 million. "I never would have imagined the Company diversifying in this direction", said Myles Harrington, President of Grant Street Group, "but there is suddenly a screaming need for experienced suppliers of software as a service to government entities, particularly web-based applications that run on open source architecture, like Linux and MySQL. We have been doing that successfully for over 10 years now with our auction platforms."
For the past 10 years, Grant Street Group's revenues have been growing at an average rate of about 30% per year. The Company has nearly 50 full-time employees and expects to continue hiring locally at a rapid clip. "Pittsburgh has proven to be an excellent marketplace for us to build a fast-growing, high-tech business", said Dan Veres, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Grant Street Group. "It's hard to imagine a better place to build a Company like this."
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review article. [Return to top] Patent Infringement Award to Grant Street Increased to $84.6MMPermanent Injunction Imposed on Thomson / iDeal / Ipreo Use of Parity Pittsburgh, PA (July 31, 2007) United States District Judge Gary Lancaster, late yesterday, entered a permanent injunction, doubled a jury's damage award and added $7.6 million in prejudgment interest, bringing the total judgment amount in favor of Grant Street Group to $84.6 million. The case is based on a claim of patent infringement brought more than 6 years ago against Thomson Financial and iDeal, LLC by Grant Street Group and its founders, Myles Harrington and Dan Veres, who invented a new system for auctioning municipal bonds using the Internet for which a patent was granted in 2000.
The case was tried in October 2006 before a federal court jury in Pittsburgh and resulted in a finding of willful infringement and damages of $38.4 million. In addition, the jury found that Grant Street Group's patent was valid and enforceable. After trial, the Court was presented with a number of post-trial motions that were addressed by the district court in its order issued yesterday. Motions for a new trial and for judgment as a matter of law in favor of Thomson and i-Deal were denied. The Court granted a permanent injunction prohibiting the future use and sale of the infringing Parity electronic bid submission system offered by Thomson / i-Deal or its successor Ipreo and doubled the damages because of defendants' willful infringement.
A copy of the Court's decision and orders can be accessed at http://www.niroscavone.com/document.php?Id=124. The case is Civil Action No. 01-1003, MuniAuction Inc. v. Thomson Corp. and iDeal LLC in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Judge Gary L. Lancaster. Any inquiries can be addressed to Myles Harrington at (412) 391-5555, ext. 301 or Myles@GrantStreet.com.
Pittsburgh Business Times article
Seven firms submitted bids in the $164 Million swap auction. Merrill Lynch submitted the best bid at a rate of 3.9420% and was awarded two-thirds of the total notional swap amount and Bear Stearns, with the second best bid (3.9450%), was awarded one-third at the same rate as the best bid (3.9420%). Other swap bidders, in rank order, included Lehman Brothers, UBS, JPMorgan, Royal Bank of Canada and Goldman Sachs. The swap auction format was sealed-bid, which prevents bidders from seeing their status relative to other bidders during the bidding period.
Eleven firms submitted bids for $1.2 Billion of uncollateralized investment agreements in an open auction that enabled bidders to see their status (i.e., "Leader" or "Not Leader") relative to other bidders during the bidding period. After intense bidding that triggered extensions of the bidding period 3 times, contracts were awarded to Wells Fargo, Pallas Capital, Calyon and Citigroup each in amounts of $300 million.
Today's transactions mark the 17th and 18th time the Massachusetts State Treasurer, Timothy P. Cahill, has used his private label BidMass auction web site. In addition to hosting GIC and swap auctions on the site, the Treasurer conducts bond and note auctions and CD solicitations using the site.
Grant Street's John McCarthy commented after the sale: "Today's Massachusetts auctions were not only the largest of the 443 (totaling $18 Billion) we have done in the past 10 years, they were also among the most competitive. For example, it is unusual to have as many as 11 bidders actively participating in a single GIC solicitation, which is what we had today."
During the 30-minute open auction, bidders were shown their bid status (i.e., "In the Money" or "Out of the Money") and were able to subsequently improve their bids based upon real-time feedback. The City also utilized the Two-Minute Rule (TMR), which triggered 15 times, extending the auction for an additional two minutes each time the lead changed during the final two minutes of the auction.
As a convenience to bidders, the City permitted partial bidding - allowing bids in $100,000 increments with a minimum bid of $1 Million which allowed more underwriters, including local and regional underwriters, to compete for the City's notes and, hence, achieve more competitive rates.
Since 1997, Grant Street Group has conducted over 360 Note auctions for nearly $40 Billion to-date on its auction websites.
Zions Bancorporation's board of directors granted 994,180 employee stock options on May 4, 2007 with a strike price of $83.25. ESOARS entitle holders to receive specified payments from Zions Bancorporation upon the exercise of those employee stock options.
The ESOARS were offered to provide a market basis to determine the fair value of stock options granted to employees under Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 123R, which requires companies to expense these options. The valuation practice of most companies is to use modifications of standard option pricing models. However, these models were not designed to estimate the value of employee stock options and may not accurately reflect their actual value.
"This successful ESOARS auction supports the effectiveness of this method for valuing employee stock options," said W. David Hemingway, senior investment officer and executive vice president of Zions Bancorporation. "We anticipate using this auction result in our own stock option expensing and also to help other option-granting companies use the method."
Zions Bancorporation is one of the nation's premier financial services companies, consisting of a collection of great banks in select high growth markets. Zions Bancorporation operates its banking businesses under local management teams and community identities through over 500 offices and approximately 600 ATMs in 10 Western and Southwestern states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington. The company is a national leader in Small Business Administration lending and public finance advisory services. In addition, Zions Bancorporation is included in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Financial 100 indices. Investor information and links to subsidiary banks can be accessed at www.zionsbancorporation.com.
Auctions at www.auctions.zionsdirect.com empower investors to set the yield on the CD for which they are bidding. There are no fees, and the only requirement to participate in an auction is to register to bid, a process that is easily completed in a few minutes. Zions Direct CD auctions allow private investors to obtain yields previously available only to large institutional investors. CDs of varying maturities are available in amounts as small as $1,000.
"Bidding on CDs through an auction process is the latest and, we believe, most innovative method for pricing these investment products," said W. David Hemingway, executive vice president." The phenomenal success of Internet auctions leads us to believe that the market is ready to accept a similar model for financial products."
Similar to the auctions held by the U.S. Treasury, CD auctions use a modified version of the Dutch auction method. The bidding process is open, enabling investors to check the status of their bids throughout the auction. Current auctions, as well as the results of previous auctions, can be accessed at www.auctions.zionsdirect.com.
Zions First National Bank is a subsidiary of Zions Bancorporation , one of the nation's premier financial services companies, consisting of a collection of great banks in select high-growth markets. Zions operates its banking businesses under local management teams and community identities through over 500 offices and 600 ATMs in 10 Western states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington. The company is a national leader in Small Business Administration lending and public finance advisory services. In addition, Zions is included in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Financial 100 indices. Investor information and links to subsidiary banks can be accessed at www.zionsbancorporation.com.
TaxSys is a state of the art full service tax collection and billing system for Real Estate, Tangible Personal Property, Occupational Licenses and Tourist & Development Taxes. It is now operational in the Florida Tax Collector Offices in Okaloosa, Osceola and St Lucie counties.
"You have produced an amazing product in an incredibly short period of time" said Patsy Heffner, Tax Collector for Osceola County, "Your responsiveness, your consistently positive attitude, and your willingness to listen and adjust to our needs has been both recognized and appreciated." A Branch Manager echoed her positive response, "I have been working on our old program for 14 years and before the morning was over I was able to do more on TaxSys, in a shorter amount of time, than I ever could on our old program. Thank you for giving us TaxSys, I love it"!
Several more TaxSys installations in Florida Tax Collector offices are planned throughout 2007.
December 11, 2006
Nearly two years ago (Jan. 25, 2005) The Bond Buyer published my letter to the editor: "Technology is the Ultimate Solution to GIC Bid Rigging." In it I voiced my concerns regarding the old-fashioned, non-transparent process by which bids for GICs are received (i.e., phone or fax) and likely abuses - including undisclosed payments to GIC brokers and bogus bid certifications.
These abuses are not only crimes against federal and local governments, but also against the vast majority of industry participants, who have earned their right to a good reputation. Recent headlines regarding investigations by various federal agencies of bid rigging, payoffs, etc., cast a shadow over all municipal finance professionals involved in GIC transactions.
As a result of these investigations, some have called for additional enforcement. But more regulation is not the answer; not even self-regulation. What is the answer? For the past 10 years we have been telling issuers and GIC brokers that open electronic GIC auctions are the best way to assure transparency and integrity in the bidding process. Nonetheless, the response of some GIC brokers - who figure prominently in recent headlines - has been to argue that bidders bid more aggressively in the old-fashioned, closed-phone or fax auctions of the type that are now the subject of investigation.
One of these GIC brokers has even procured a legal opinion saying open electronic GIC auctions do not satisfy the bid-rigging safeguards built into the current rules. This is self-serving nonsense. There have been 339 successful electronic open GIC auctions since 1999 involving hundreds of issuers, financial advisors, bond counsels, and GIC providers; all doing their part to make the GIC market more efficient, competitive, transparent, and honest.
Internet technology and the open-auction format ensure that the GIC is solicited and awarded in an arm's length-manner, with all bidders having equal opportunity to bid, and no bidder having the opportunity to get a "last look." Also, and equally important, the process is transparent. The issuer and bond counsel witness all bidding activity as it takes place and receive a permanent record of it.
GICs are a perfectly suitable investment for bond proceeds. We all have a responsibility to ensure that the nefarious deeds of a few bad actors do not burden the whole municipal GIC market with disrepute and more regulation. The next time you are involved in a GIC solicitation, use the technological means at your disposal to make it a competitive, transparent, and honest process.
Dan Veres Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Grant Street Group
Grant Street Group awarded $38.4 million for patent infringement by Thomson and i-Deal.
PITTSBURGH, PA (October 6, 2006) Following a trial lasting 6 and a half days, a 6-member jury found media giant Thomson Financial and affiliated company, i-Deal, LLC guilty of willful infringement of a patent belonging to Pittsburgh-based Grant Street Group (formerly, MuniAuction). The jury also awarded Grant Street Group damages in the amount of $38.4 million for its lost profits resulting from the infringement. The patent (No. 6,161,099) issued by the US Patent & Trademark Office in 2000 covers a unique auction process for new-issue, fixed-income financial instruments, including municipal bonds, invented in 1996 by Grant Street Group Co-Founders, Myles Harrington and Dan Veres.
After having its licensing offer rejected, Grant Street Group filed suit against Thomson in June 2001 in Federal Court in Pittsburgh. "It took over 5 years and cost us more than a million dollars to get here", said Myles Harrington, a Co-Inventor and President of Grant Street Group, "but we had a good lawyer, a prudent judge and a very conscientious jury who gave us a fair hearing." "It may be expensive, but the system does work", he added.
The jury found that Thomson and i-Deal had infringed Grant Street's patent more than 12,000 times since January 2001 -- and did so willfully -- by copying a method of auctioning municipal bonds electronically that was invented by Harrington and Veres and protected by special rights granted to the inventors by the US Patent & Trademark Office.
In addition to declaring the patent valid, the jury sanctioned Thomson and i-Deal with a finding of "willfulness", which gives the judge discretion to increase the damage award that must be paid by the defendants to Grant Street by up to 3 times the amount already awarded by the jury (i.e., $115.2 million).
About Grant Street Group (www.GrantStreet.com) Grant Street Group, with headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is the country's first and most active Internet auction house for new-issue, fixed income financial instruments. Grant Street designs, develops and licenses customized auction web sites used by municipal and federal agencies as well as by global financial institutions serving as trustees, custodians, broker-dealers, exchange agents, auction agents, and remarketing agents.
CONTACT: George Faines 412-391-5555, ext. 365 Grant Street Group The Allegheny Building, Suite 1800 429 Forbes Avenue Pittsburgh, PA 15219
These new securities were offered to provide a market basis that might be used to help Zions estimate the fair value of stock options granted to employees in order to comply with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 123R, which requires companies to expense these options. The current valuation practice is to use modifications of standard option pricing models. However, these models were not designed to estimate the value of employee stock options and may not accurately reflect their actual value.
"We are pleased with the results of this auction, and the interest it generated," said W. David Hemingway, senior investment officer and executive vice president. "We now intend to have discussions with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding the use of this valuation method for expensing employee stock options. Ultimately, we hope to be able to help other option-granting companies use the method we have developed to obtain a market valuation of their option grants."
Zions Bancorporation is one of the nation's premier financial services companies, consisting of a collection of great banks in select high growth markets. Zions operates its banking businesses under local management teams and community identities through over 450 offices and 500 ATMs in 10 Western states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Washington. The company is a national leader in Small Business Administration lending and public finance advisory services. In addition, Zions is included in the S&P 500 and NASDAQ Financial 100 indices. Investor information and links to subsidiary banks can be accessed at www.zionsbancorporation.com.
In 2004, Grant Street's LienAuction was the first-ever web site to host tax lien auctions over the internet when four Florida counties Miami-Dade, Okaloosa, Orange and Volusia -- conducted sales. Since then, Grant Street has hosted internet auctions for counties in Arizona, Florida, and Maryland and the results have been overwhelming. "With LienAuction, we've been able to accomplish something no one else has been able to achieve: sell every certificate in an auction," said Grant Street's Wade Horigan, LienAuction Product Manager, "In Florida, we didn't just sell every certificate in one auction, we sold every certificate in seven out of thirteen Florida auctions this month over 129,000 certificates."
Results like these have helped keep Grant Street ahead of recent competitors. In 2006, Grant Street's LienAuction sites once again assisted in collecting more money for counties in Florida than all of its competitors combined. To-date, Grant Street has hosted successful auctions for over 315,000 certificates totaling more than $780 million.
Prior to LienAuction, bidders would gather in a public venue of the tax collector or treasurer's choosing, and bid on certificates one at a time. The auctioneer would select a certificate and bidders would shout out their bids. Typically, this process would take from several days to several weeks to complete. With the introduction of Grant Street's LienAuction, most auctions now take less than a day. "We were able to determine winners for batches of 2,500 individual certificates within seconds after an auction closed," said Horigan.
"We have received a tremendous amount of positive feedback from bidders," said Bernard Kane, Volusia County Director of Revenue, "add to that all the positive feedback from my office and you have a lot of people who love this product."
Since its inception, LienAuction has produced positive results for Citrus, Clay, Highlands, Lake, Leon, Marion, Miami-Dade, Okaloosa, Orange, Osceola, Palm Beach, St. Lucie, and Volusia Counties in Florida, as well as Baltimore, Maryland and Maricopa County, Arizona.
The $24.8 million represents a portion of $2.8 billion in state operating funds the BTI manages. BTI's Executive Director Glenda Probst said any official state depository with a West Virginia bank presence was able to participate.
"We hope to put some money into the economy of West Virginia," Perdue said, "by making available funds that banks may loan to working individuals. We thought nothing could be fairer than an on-line auction."
Quarterly auctions of $25 million will be held on the BidWVauction web site on the third Tuesday of February, May, August and November.
Three financial institutions participated in the open auction in which 61 bids were submitted. At the conclusion of the auction, Merrill Lynch had the first-place bid and was awarded 60% of the $425 million swap. Morgan Stanley, who agreed to match Merrill's bid, was awarded 40%.
Michael McAnder, Vice President of Managed Care and Treasurer, said he was extremely pleased with the results. "I see great value in inviting firms to compete in an open auction. By utilizing Grant Street's process, I believe we attained the best possible rate."
KaufmanHall, a consulting practice specializing in the healthcare field, served as swap advisor to Banner Health.
Grant Street Group, a Pittsburgh-based software company that specializes in customized software applications for financial institutions and government entities, was selected by Maricopa to host the auction using their LienAuction platform. To date, more than 180,000 tax certificates totaling over $418 million have been sold using LienAuction.
"This was our 16th tax certificate auction and it really could not have gone any better," said Wade Horigan, Grant Street Group's LienAuction Product Manager. "We are as happy with the outcome as David [Schweikert]."
Thanks in part to the LienAuction platform, Maricopa County was able to sell 86.4 percent of the liens offered, compared with 74.5 percent last year. The increase helped Maricopa collect an estimated $17 million in back taxes and clear more than 13,000 tax liens from its books during its first online auction.
In previous years, Maricopa's annual auctions attracted about 150 buyers who had to physically be on County premises in order to bid in the auction. This year, there were over 3,000 registrants and 900 participating bidders in the online auction.
"We had people from Europe; we had people from Asia; I know we had one from Hong Kong," Schweikert said of the auction participants. "What really surprised me was that the vast number of people were local."
Maricopa has decided to hold a follow-up auction with Grant Street Group for those certificates that were not sold in the initial auction.
As a convenience to bidders, the County permitted partial bidding - allowing bids in $1M increments with a minimum bid of $5M which allowed more underwriters, including local and regional underwriters, to compete for the Countys notes and, hence, achieve more competitive rates. The County also utilized the Two Minute Rule (TMR), which extended the auctions for an additional two minutes any time the lead changed during the final two minutes of the auctions.
During the auctions, participants were able to toggle, via a simple button, between the two Series'. The $103M Series A sale received 76 bids from 15 bidders and triggered two TMR extensions resulting in three different winning firms and a weighted average NIC of 3.2752%, while the $17M Series B sale received 12 bids from 8 bidders resulting in a weighted average NIC of 3.3204%
Since 1999, Public Financial Management has conducted 655 auctions for over $8.7 Billion to-date on its private-label auction website (www.PFMauction.com).
In December 2003, the GFOA entered into an alliance with Grant Street Group, a fixed income Internet auction house and parent of MuniAuction, to create the GFOA YieldAdvantage web site (www.gfoayield.com).
Using GFOA YieldAdvantage, Washtenaw County held auctions for certificates of deposit for five different maturities ranging from 80 days to 111 days, each for $1 million. Bids for the certificates of deposit were submitted in an "open" auction where the banks bidding saw whether they were leading to win award of the Countys investment or needed to improve and resubmit their rates. A total of 10 banks submitted 122 bids for the five certificates of deposit.
Maria Pappas, the Cook County Treasurer, said she was pleased with the results of the 30-minute electronic sale. "I believe that county taxpayers benefit because the auction is more efficient and makes it possible for more banks to compete for county deposits. We will be using this platform on a regular basis. It simplified the investment process for us and our bank partners."
Using GFOA YieldAdvantage, the Treasurer held auctions for certificates of deposit for nine different maturities ranging from seven days to 70 days and for amounts between $250,000 and $33 million. Bids for the certificates of deposit were submitted in an "open" auction where the banks bidding saw whether they were leading to win award of the Treasurer's investment or needed to improve and resubmit their rates. A total of 13 banks submitted 133 bids for the nine certificates of deposit.
The Cook County Treasurer's Office plans to repeat the success of this initial certificate of deposit placement on a weekly basis for its investment in certificates of deposit.
GFOA YieldAdvantage is a Web-based investment auction platform offered through an alliance of the Government Finance Officers Association and Grant Street Group. Through the use of GFOA YieldAdvantage, state and local governments are able to solicit bids easily and efficiently from a larger number of financial institutions via the Internet, enhancing the investment of government funds.
Pittsburgh, PA (May 31, 2005) The County of St. Clair, Michigan placed a $5.7 million investment using GFOA YieldAdvantage, an Internet auction web site offered by the Government Finance Officers Association. Using the GFOA YieldAdvantage web site, state and local governments are able to solicit bids and exchange settlement information easily and efficiently via the Internet. The $5.7 million, 246-day, transaction was a "sealed" solicitation in which eight banks and broker-dealers submitted offers of open market securities consisting of CDs, commercial paper, treasuries and agencies, with Flagstar Bank winning the award with a yield of 3.69%.
Pittsburgh, PA (May 19, 2005) The Town of Sahuarita, Arizona placed a $5 million investment using GFOA YieldAdvantage, an Internet auction web site offered by the Government Finance Officers Association. Traditionally, government entities and school districts solicit bids from banks and broker-dealers via phone. Using the GFOA YieldAdvantage web site, state and local governments are able to solicit bids and exchange settlement information easily and efficiently via the Internet. The $5 million transaction was a "sealed" solicitation in which nine broker-dealers submitted offers of agency securities, with D.A. Davidson winning the award with a yield of 3.60992%.
"The process was intuitive and the returns exceeded our expectations," said Al Kramer, treasurer of Carson City, Nevada. The solicitation was done on an "all-or-none" basis in which an award is made to the firm offering the best overall rate of return for a portfolio of four U.S. Agency securities ranging from 9 to 19-month terms. The City received offers from eight banks and broker-dealers, with Wells Fargo winning the award with an aggregate yield of 3.75668%.
Pittsburgh, PA (April 18, 2005) The City of Raleigh, North Carolina, placed a $191 million investment using GFOA YieldAdvantage, an Internet auction web site offered by the Government Finance Officers Association. Using the GFOA YieldAdvantage web site, state and local governments are able to solicit bids and exchange settlement information easily and efficiently via the Internet. The laddered portfolio transaction was a "sealed" solicitation in which banks and broker-dealers submitted quotes for 36 individual maturities ranging from one to 39 months. The laddered portfolio permitted offers of open market securities consisting of treasury, agency and commercial paper.
Pittsburgh, PA (April 14, 2005) The City of Durham, North Carolina, placed a $2 million investment using GFOA YieldAdvantage, an Internet auction web site offered by the Government Finance Officers Association. Traditionally, government entities and school districts solicit bids from banks and broker-dealers via phone. Using the GFOA YieldAdvantage web site, state and local governments are able to solicit bids and exchange settlement information easily and efficiently via the Internet. The $2 million transaction was a "sealed" solicitation in which nine broker-dealers submitted offers for a 473 day agency security.
Pittsburgh, PA (April 7, 2005) East Brunswick Board of Education, New Jersey, placed a $76 million investment using YieldAuction, an Internet auction web site developed by Grant Street Group, a fixed income Internet auction house and parent of MuniAuction. Traditionally, government entities and school districts solicit bids from banks and broker-dealers via phone. Using the YieldAuction web site, state and local governments are able to solicit bids and exchange settlement information easily and efficiently via the Internet. The $76 million transaction was a "sealed" solicitation consisting of a 395-day $51 million maturity and a 325-day $25 million maturity. Nine broker-dealers submitted a total of 19 offers of agency and treasury securities.
January 25, 2005
GIC bid rigging in the municipal market is no revelation. With huge sums of money involved and an archaic system of phone or fax bids, is it any wonder that the integrity of the bidding process is consistently undermined?
It is incumbent on issuers and bond counsels to become more closely involved in the bidding process, or these back room deals will continue to pervade the GIC market. A bidding agent who receives undisclosed payments or makes false certifications defrauds not only the federal government but also the government officials who hired them.
The IRS' recently proposed rules establishing higher standards for tax-exempt bond opinions is a step in the right direction. The proposed rules would prevent bond counsel from blindly accepting certifications from third parties to conclude that safe harbor requirements were met in soliciting GIC bids.
But the ultimate solution to this apparently widespread problem is not stricter regulations or enforcement; it's technology. This particular segment of the municipal market has been slow to seize the use of technology. Technology is now available that allows electronic bids to be submitted in an open auction, giving GIC providers the opportunity to see their rank relative to competing bidders and, with this knowledge, the ability to improve the rate they are willing to pay for the funds.
Internet technology and the open auction format ensures that the GIC is awarded in an arm's length transaction, all bidders have an equal opportunity to bid, and no one receives a "last look." Also, equally important, the process is transparent. The issuer and bond counsel witness all bidding activity as it takes place and receive a permanent record of the auction activity.
The stakes are high. Bid rigging not only endangers a bonds' tax-exempt status, it also compromises the integrity of the municipal market. A near foolproof solution to this problem is to invite all eligible investment providers to compete in an open auction using Internet technology.
Sincerely,
Dan Veres Chief Operating Officer Grant Street Group
Pittsburgh, PA (November 9, 2004) Springfield Public Schools No. 19, Oregon placed a $500,000 investment using GFOA YieldAdvantage, a new Internet auction web site offered by the Government Finance Officers Association. Traditionally, government entities and school districts solicit bids from banks and broker-dealers via phone. Using the GFOA YieldAdvantage web site, state and local governments are able to solicit bids and exchange settlement information easily and efficiently via the Internet. The $500,000 transaction was a "sealed" solicitation in which four banks and broker-dealers submitted quotes for 6-month agency securities.
About the Government Finance Officers Association
The GFOA is the premier professional association in public finance, serving the needs of more than 15,000 governments in the United States and Canada. Established in 1906, GFOA is the main vehicle for recommended financial management practices that guide the state and local public sector. GFOA provides training programs, a wide range of publications and periodicals, renowned awards programs, and consulting services. For more information, visit the GFOA Web site at www.gfoa.org.
Pittsburgh, PA (November 4, 2004) Grant Street Group, the Pittsburgh-based firm that pioneered Internet auctions of new bond issues, today announced that its auction web sites exceeded $5 trillion in total volume. Since hosting the first auction in November 1997 for the City of Pittsburgh, Grant Street Group has diversified into designing, developing and licensing customized or private-labeled auction web sites used by municipal and federal agencies and major financial institutions serving as trustees, custodians, broker-dealers, exchange agents, auction agents, remarketing agents and tax collectors.
Grant Street Group has hosted over 18,000 auctions for over 1,000 different Issuers of fixed income instruments including, new issues of bills, notes, bonds, auction rate certificates and tax certificates, as well as reverse auctions (i.e., investment solicitations) of treasuries, agencies, CP, CDs, repos and guaranteed investment contracts (GICs). Its growing client list includes, Freddie Mac, Tennessee Valley Authority, Wilmington Trust, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, Mellon, GFOA, Public Financial Management, the State Treasuries' of Ohio, Texas, South Carolina, Louisiana, Iowa, Idaho, Massachusetts and Maryland, as well as Allegheny, Miami-Dade, Orange, Volusia and Okaloosa Counties. In addition, it has partnered with the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) to create a real-time electronic marketplace for governments to invest their cash holdings.
Grant Street Group also holds a patent that gives the firm exclusive rights to conduct (or license its method of conducting) bond auctions and investment solicitations that have certain characteristics (as described in the patent.)
Grant Street Group is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. More information is available at www.GrantStreet.com, Info@GrantStreet.com, or by calling 412-391-5555.
Grant Street Group has also created CD auction web sites for: South Carolina, Allegheny County, Texas, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Iowa & most recently in June of 2004 - Massachusetts.
Pittsburgh, PA (September 9, 2004) The City of Walterboro, South Carolina solicited a $250,000 6 month CD using GFOA YieldAdvantage, a new Internet auction web site offered by the Government Finance Officers Association. Traditionally, government entities and school districts solicit bids from banks via phone. Using the GFOA YieldAdvantage web site, state and local governments are able to solicit bids easily and efficiently from a larger number of banks via the Internet and to conduct an on-line auction in which these banks bid against each other for the deposit. The state or local government gets the benefit of a higher investment rate from the combination of increased competition and the auction format. Solicitation amounts range from $100,000 (or less in some instances) to millions of dollars. In the City of Walterboro auction, 5 banks from South Carolina submitted 24 bids during the 30 minute auction.
The Comptroller's "private label site" (PLS) called TranTexas.com will allow the State to receive competitive bids from qualified underwriters based in Texas as well as from around the country. Also, using an electronic bidding innovation offered only by Grant Street Group, the PLS will allow qualified minority firms -- or HUBs (Historically Underutilized Businesses) -- to place bids and receive awards on portions of the notes. This partial bidding feature allows smaller, less well-capitalized underwriters to effectively compete with their much larger and more heavily capitalized competitors by enabling them to bid for part, but not all of the notes for sale.
Texas now joins Colorado, Massachusetts, and New Mexico in using a Grant Street private label site to host their competitive TRAN sales. These states, as well as many others, accept partial bids in order to allow more underwriters - including local and regional underwriters in their states - to compete for the State's notes and hence, achieve more competitive rates.
About Grant Street Group Grant Street Group is an Internet auction house dedicated exclusively to hosting auctions of fixed income instruments including new issues of bills, notes, bonds, auction rate certificates and tax certificates, as well as reverse auctions (i.e., investment solicitations by state and local governments) of treasuries, agencies, CP, CDs, repos and guaranteed investment contracts (GICs). In addition to auction hosting, Grant Street Group designs, develops and licenses customized or private-labeled auction web sites used by municipal and federal agencies and major financial institutions serving as trustees, custodians, broker-dealers, exchange agents, auction agents, remarketing agents, etc.
In total, over 60,000 certificates with a face amount exceeding $150 million were sold to individual and institutional investors located throughout Florida as well as across the country.
In past years, hundreds of bidders would gather at each auction site designated by each county and wait for certain certificate numbers to be called out by the auctioneer and then shout their bids: "18%", "15%", "5%"; the auctioneer responding: "5% going once, 5% going twice, sold to bidder number...for 5%". And so it would go, continuously, while the staff of the County Tax Collector's Office would scramble to sell thousands of delinquent tax certificates. Not anymore.
This year more than 60,000 certificates were sold over the Internet at rates ranging from the state permitted maximum of 18% to a minimum of 0%, with 0.25% percent increments in between. The winning bidder is the one offering to purchase the certificate at the lowest rate of interest. After paying delinquent tax and related penalties to the tax collector, winning bidders are then entitled to receive their winning interest rate on the amount they paid the tax collector to purchase each certificate. The delinquent tax payer then becomes obligated to reimburse the purchaser the amount paid for the certificate plus a penalty based on the winning rate of interest bid for the certificate.
By conducting the auctions over the Internet, more bidders than ever submitted their bids on the Tax Collector's new, first-of-its-kind auction web sites at www.BidMiamiDade.com, www.BidOkaloosa.com, www.BidOrangeCounty.com, and www.BidVolusia.com. Deposits were taken and bids were submitted online for several weeks prior to the start of each auction.
In Orange County's auction, "The number of bidders and the number of bids they submitted was much higher than past years", said Earl Wood, Orange County Tax Collector. "I have been conducting tax certificate auctions in this county for 40 years, and I must admit this one is the most competitive and the most efficient. Our tax payers got the lowest interest rates ever and our local bidders won more certificates than ever before. So this Internet auction was a win-win as far as I'm concerned," Mr. Wood added.
Internet bidding for tax certificates in Florida became possible after State Representative Juan C. Zapata of Miami, sponsored legislation last year permitting such sales.
LienAuction service and each county's private label Internet web sites were developed and are hosted by Grant Street Group of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Grant Street Group is the country's first and only Internet auction house dedicated exclusively to hosting auctions of fixed income instruments including new issues of bonds, notes, bills, certificates of deposit, guaranteed investment contracts, tax certificates, auction rate certificates and swaps. In addition to auction hosting, Grant Street Group designs, develops and licenses customized auction web sites used by municipal and federal agencies and major financial institutions serving as trustees, custodians, broker-dealers, exchange agents, auction agents, remarketing agents, etc. Since November 1997, Grant Street Group has hosted over 12,500 Internet auctions of fixed income instruments totaling more than $4.5 trillion. Grant Street Group is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. More information is available at www.GrantStreet.com or by calling 412-391-5555.
Pittsburgh, PA (May 3, 2004) Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. today announced the introduction of its new Auction Agent Services, featuring a new online auction site, Wells Fargo Online AuctionsSM. The new Web site, developed by Wells Fargo in conjunction with Grant Street Group, is located at www.wfauctions.com and allows real time access to dutch auction information to investors, issuers, broker-dealers and trustees. Dutch auctions are a method of resetting interest rates on municipal debt and other securities.
"Auction Agent Services are a natural complement to Wells Fargo's core bond trustee services," said Jenni Minardi, senior vice president of Wells Fargo Corporate Trust Services. "By using Wells Fargo as both Trustee and Auction Agent, issuers and broker-dealers significantly streamline the dutch auction process. We are a leading trustee for issuers of student loan backed securities, and health care debt. These issuers, as well as other municipal debt issuers, frequently issue Auction Rate Securities." Auction bids and results can be communicated to and from Wells Fargo in a variety of methods, including Wells Fargo Corporate Trust Services/Add one online or through customized electronic transmissions. Auction Agent Services will be offered through a dedicated Auction Agent Group within Wells Fargo Corporate Trust Services.
Wells Fargo Corporate Trust Services, one of the nation's leading corporate trust organizations, offers a variety of fiduciary and agency services in connection with debt securities issued by public and private corporations, government entities and the banking and securities industries, including mortgage-backed, asset-backed, CDO, municipal, and corporate/high yield and litigation settlement administration. Wells Fargo Corporate Trust Services has more than 1,200 team members in 28 offices nationwide and in the United Kingdom. The company serves on more than 12,000 issues totaling over $1 trillion in original issuance.
Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $397 billion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance from more than 5,900 stores and the Internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and elsewhere internationally. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is the only "Aaa"- rated bank in the United States. [Return to top] Woodbury County, Iowa uses GFOA YieldAdvantage Pittsburgh, PA (March 30, 2004) Woodbury County, Iowa solicited $401,000 in CDs using GFOA YieldAdvantage, a new Internet auction web site offered by the Government Finance Officers Association. Traditionally, government entities and school districts solicit bids from banks via phone. Using the GFOA YieldAdvantage web site, state and local governments are able to solicit bids easily and efficiently from a larger number of banks via the Internet and to conduct an on-line auction in which these banks bid against each other for the deposit. The state or local government gets the benefit of a higher investment rate from the combination of increased competition and the auction format. Solicitation amounts range from $100,000 (or less in some instances) to millions of dollars. In Woodbury County, the Treasurer was interested in investing $401,000 and accepted bids for 1, 2, and 3 year CDs from the County's 17 approved banks. After receiving bids on all 3 durations during the 30-minute auction, the County accepted the 2-year CD. In December 2003, the GFOA entered into an alliance with Grant Street Group, a fixed income Internet auction house and parent of MuniAuction, to create the GFOA YieldAdvantage web site (www.gfoayield.com). About the Government Finance Officers Association The GFOA is the premier professional association in public finance, serving the needs of more than 15,000 governments in the United States and Canada. Established in 1906, GFOA is the main vehicle for recommended financial management practices that guide the state and local public sector. GFOA provides training programs, a wide range of publications and periodicals, renowned awards programs, and consulting services. For more information, visit the GFOA Web site at www.gfoa.org. [Return to top] Cook County, Illinois uses GFOA YieldAdvantage Pittsburgh, PA (February 5, 2004) Using an online auction platform for the first time, Cook County earned significantly better yields on the investment of its bond proceeds than it has in the past. The County placed $100 million in investments using GFOA YieldAdvantage, a new Internet auction website offered by the Government Finance Officers Association. Tom Glaser, chief financial officer of Cook County, said he was pleased with the results of the sale. "We got more bids for more kinds of instruments and at more competitive rates than ever before", he said. "We will definitely be using this platform on a regular basis in the future. It simplified every aspect of the investment process, from soliciting bids to exchanging confirms and settlement information, and it's all done electronically." The County held two back-to-back solicitations - one for a guaranteed investment contract (GIC) and the other for a laddered portfolio of open market securities comprised of treasury and agency securities, certificates of deposit, commercial paper and repurchase agreements. Bids for the GIC were submitted in an "open" auction where bidders saw the rank of their bids and had the opportunity to improve their rates. Fifty-three bids were submitted by 11 firms, with the winning firm receiving the award for the $80 million investment at an interest rate of 1.20 percent. The laddered portfolio transaction was a "sealed" solicitation in which eight banks and broker-dealers submitted quotes for 10 individual maturities ranging from one to 10 months. The best aggregate rate for the portfolio was 1.03 percent. This solicitation resulted in two $10 million awards, with the County purchasing 60-day commercial paper and a 90-day agency discount note from the two firms quoting the best rates for those maturities. Both the 1.20 percent GIC rate and 1.03 percent aggregate portfolio rate obtained on YieldAdvantage were superior to the benchmark, a 0.93 percent yield on a Treasury Bill of comparable term. In December 2003, the GFOA entered into an alliance with Grant Street Group, a fixed income Internet auction house and parent of MuniAuction, to create the GFOA YieldAdvantage web site (www.gfoayield.com). About the Government Finance Officers Association The GFOA is the premier professional association in public finance, serving the needs of more than 15,000 governments in the United States and Canada. Established in 1906, GFOA is the main vehicle for recommended financial management practices that guide the state and local public sector. GFOA provides training programs, a wide range of publications and periodicals, renowned awards programs, and consulting services. For more information, visit the GFOA Web site at www.gfoa.org. [Return to top] Government Finance Officers Association Teams with Grant Street Group to Bring Money Market Investment Platform to Public Sector Pittsburgh, PA (December 4, 2003) The Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) today announced an alliance with Grant Street Group, a fixed income Internet auction house, to create GFOA YieldAdvantage, a real-time electronic marketplace for governments to invest their cash holdings. Historically, governments have sought several quotes from local banks before investing their cash. This is done via fax or over the telephone, and often consumes a significant portion of a treasury manager's day. GFOA YieldAdvantage revolutionizes this process by creating a marketplace in which banks compete for a government's investment business. Competition optimizes the yields that governments earn on their short-term cash investments. In addition, the functionality built into the site expedites the investment process. In a typical open bid auction, a government specifies the quantity and type of investment instruments it wants to buy, and then opens up the auction. Banks bid against each other until the auction closes, at which point the government awards the funds to the bidder that best suits its needs, usually the highest bidder. During the auction, banks can view their rank, but not the best bid. In a sealed bid auction, bidders receive no feedback and hence submit just their best bids. In a sealed bid auction, GFOA YieldAdvantage allows governments to solicit bids for multiple investment instruments. It can be used to invest in collateralized or non-collateralized certificates of deposit, commercial paper, treasury and agency securities, and repurchase agreements. This flexibility allows governments to diversify their short-term investments, and the platform automatically compares returns across the various instruments, which further streamlines the cash investment process. "Investment officers are always on the lookout for opportunities to improve yield and make the investment process more efficient, all the while ensuring that their portfolios are safe," said GFOA Executive Director Jeffrey L. Esser "GFOA YieldAdvantage is one way that governments can meet these goals." The auctions will be powered by Grant Street Group, whose base product, YieldAuction, is currently being used by a number of jurisdictions, including Monroe County, NY; Sioux County and Story County, IA; and St. Johns County Tax Collectors Office, FL. "This service is an indispensable tool in today's challenging cash management environment," said Gerald Mecca, chief financial officer of Monroe County, NY "I wouldn't want to go to work without it." GFOA YieldAdvantage features the same functionality as YieldAuction. About the Government Finance Officers Association GFOA is the leading professional association for those interested in government finance. GFOA's membership consists of more than 15,500 local, state, and provincial government finance officers and others responsible for financial policy decisions in governmental entities, public employee retirement systems, and various special districts. The association is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and has offices in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit GFOA's Web site a www.gfoa.org. [Return to top] Grant Street Group Develops Auction Agent Web Site For Wachovia Pittsburgh, PA (October 9, 2003) Wachovia Corporate Trust, part of Wachovia Corporate and Institutional Trust, announced today the launch of Wachovia Auction Direct. The new system provides full-service auction agent capabilities for issuers and broker-dealers by allowing accurate and efficient online bidding of auction rate securities. "Enhancing our auction agent services demonstrates our commitment to investing in our corporate trust business and providing the latest technology to our clients. By offering auction agent services to clients, we make it easier for them to depend on us for all their trust needs," said Linda Delaney, managing director of Corporate Trust for Wachovia. Wachovia's auction agent services include: Customized reporting Floor and ceiling rate determination Ability for broker-dealers to place online bids Completion of the auction process Determination of the winning bid rate Reporting of results to issuer and participating broker-dealers Acting as a liaison among trustees, issuers, broker-dealers and security depositories Wachovia also can serve as trustee, paying agent and transfer agent and has a centralized, dedicated team of auction agent specialists based in New York City who can provide accurate reports and respond to inquiries with speed and confidentiality. Wachovia Auction Direct, powered by Grant Street Group, also offers auction calendars, daily summaries, CUSIP summaries and real-time auction results. Wachovia Corporate and Institutional Trust offers retirement services, custodial services and investment management, conventional and structured finance trust solutions, equity services, information management and claims processing, and Investment Holding Company (IHC) services to institutional clients worldwide. Based in Charlotte, N.C., Wachovia Corporate and Institutional Trust has 37 locations in 17 states plus the District of Columbia. Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) is one of the largest providers of financial services to retail, brokerage and corporate customers throughout the East Coast and the nation, with assets of $364 billion and stockholders' equity of $32 billion at June 30, 2003. Its four core businesses, the General Bank, Capital Management, Wealth Management and the Corporate and Investment Bank, serve 9 million households, including 900,000 businesses, primarily in 11 East Coast states and Washington, D.C. Its broker-dealer, currently operating under the names Wachovia Securities, LLC, and Prudential Securities Division of Wachovia Securities, LLC, serves clients through 700 offices in 48 states. Global services are provided through more than 30 international offices. Online banking and brokerage products and services also are available through wachovia.com. [Return to top] Story County, Iowa uses YieldAuction Pittsburgh, PA (August 25, 2003) Grant Street Group, the Pittsburgh based Internet auction house for fixed-income securities, recently used its money market investment platform, YieldAuction, to solicit a $500,000, 366-day CD for Story County, Iowa. Traditionally, government entities and school districts solicit bids from banks via phone. Using the YieldAuction web site, state and local governments are able to solicit bids easily and efficiently from a larger number of banks via the Internet and to conduct an on-line auction in which these banks bid against each other for the deposit. The state or local government gets the benefit of a higher investment rate from the combination of increased competition and the auction format. Solicitation amounts range from $100,000 (or less in some instances) to millions of dollars. In the Story County auction, 4 banks from Iowa submitted 20 bids during the 30 minute auction. [Return to top] Washington County, Pennsylvania uses YieldAuction Pittsburgh, PA (April 11, 2003) Grant Street Group, the Pittsburgh-based Internet auction house for fixed-income securities, recently used its money market investment platform, YieldAuction, to solicit a $1,000,000, 182-day CD for Washington County, Pennsylvania. Traditionally, government entities and school districts solicit bids from banks via phone. Using the YieldAuction web site, state and local governments are able to solicit bids easily and efficiently from a larger number of banks via the Internet and to conduct an on-line auction in which these banks bid against each other for the deposit. The state or local government gets the benefit of a higher investment rate from the combination of increased competition and the auction format. Solicitation amounts range from $100,000 (or less in some instances) to millions of dollars. In the Washington County auction, five banks from Pennsylvania submitted 7 bids during the 30 minute auction. [Return to top] St. Johns County Tax Collector, Florida uses YieldAuction Pittsburgh, PA (March 27, 2003) Grant Street Group, the Pittsburgh-based Internet auction house for fixed-income securities, recently used its money market investment platform, YieldAuction, to solicit a $1,000,000, 90-day CD for St. Johns County Tax Collector, Florida. Traditionally, government entities and school districts solicit bids from banks via phone. Using the YieldAuction web site, state and local governments are able to solicit bids easily and efficiently from a larger number of banks via the Internet and to conduct an on-line auction in which these banks bid against each other for the deposit. The state or local government gets the benefit of a higher investment rate from the combination of increased competition and the auction format. Solicitation amounts range from $100,000 (or less in some instances) to millions of dollars. In the St. Johns County Tax Collector auction, three banks from Florida submitted 15 bids during the 60 minute auction. [Return to top] Grant Street Group Introduces New Terms Page Feature Pittsburgh, PA (October 7, 2002) Grant Street Group, a Pittsburgh based Internet company that creates and maintains customized web sites for auctions and other transactions of fixed-income and equity securities, announced the introduction of a new feature to its MuniAuction and other private label web sites Powered by Grant Street Group. A Terms page feature will be available for competitive bond and note sales hosted over Grant Street Group's MuniAuction web site or other private label web sites Powered by Grant Street Group. The Terms page provides users -- including bidders, issuers, and their financial advisors -- with easily accessible information that bidders can use to help assemble their bid, and issuers and financial advisors can use to quickly respond to inquiries, or perhaps re-freshen their memory. The Terms page was developed by Grant Street Group's software development team. [Return to top] Sioux County, Iowa uses YieldAuction Pittsburgh, PA (September 3, 2002) Grant Street Group, the Pittsburgh based Internet auction house for fixed-income securities, recently used its money market investment platform, YieldAuction, to solicit $225,000 of CDs from Iowa banks for Sioux County. Traditionally, government entities and school districts solicit bids from banks via phone. Using the YieldAuction web site, state and local governments are able to solicit bids easily and efficiently from a larger number of banks via the Internet and to conduct an on-line auction in which these banks bid against each other for the deposit. The state or local government gets the benefit of a higher investment rate from the combination of increased competition and the auction format. Solicitation amounts range from $100,000 (or less in some instances) to millions of dollars. In the Sioux County auctions, 6 banks from Iowa submitted 47 bids during the two 30 minute auctions. [Return to top] Butler County, Pennsylvania uses YieldAuction Pittsburgh, PA (May 16, 2002) Grant Street Group, the Pittsburgh based Internet auction house for fixed-income securities, recently used its money market investment platform, YieldAuction, to solicit $6,000,000 of CDs from Pennsylvania banks for Butler County. Traditionally, government entities and school districts solicit bids from banks via phone. Using the YieldAuction web site, state and local governments are able to solicit bids easily and efficiently from a larger number of banks via the Internet and to conduct an on-line auction in which these banks bid against each other for the deposit. The state or local government gets the benefit of a higher investment rate from the combination of increased competition and the auction format. Solicitation amounts range from $100,000 (or less in some instances) to millions of dollars. In the Butler County auctions, 4 banks from Pennsylvania submitted 32 bids during the two 15 minute auctions. [Return to top] Lexington County, South Carolina uses YieldAuction Pittsburgh, PA (February 11, 2002) Grant Street Group (formerly MuniAuction), the Pittsburgh based Internet auction house for fixed-income securities, recently used its new money market investment platform, YieldAuction, to solicit $5 million of CDs from South Carolina banks for Lexington County. Traditionally, government entities and school districts solicit bids from banks via phone. Using the YieldAuction web site, municipalities are able to solicit bids easily and efficiently from a larger number of banks via the Internet and to conduct an on-line auction in which these banks bid against each other for the deposit. The municipality gets the benefit of a higher investment rate from the combination of increased competition and the auction format. In the Lexington County auction, seven South Carolina banks submitted over thirty bids during the thirty-minute auction. Bill Rowell, Treasurer of Lexington County, and Brad Mathis, Deputy Treasurer, said they were very pleased with the results of this first auction. David Hasenkopf, Director of Sales and Marketing for Grant Street Group, said, "We are delighted to have Lexington County as the first user of YieldAuction in South Carolina. We look forward to making YieldAuction available to other users in the State as well." [Return to top] Grant Street Group Launches New Service School District of Pittsburgh First Client Pittsburgh, PA (January 14, 2002) -- In November and December 2001, Grant Street Group (formerly MuniAuction), the Pittsburgh based Internet auction house for fixed-income securities, used its new money market investment platform to solicit $13.5 million of CDs from Pittsburgh area banks. Traditionally, school districts and other municipal entities solicit bids from banks via phone and then simply deposit their funds with the institution offering the highest rate for a given period of time. Using YieldAuction, municipalities are able to solicit bids from a much larger number of banks via the Internet and conduct an auction in which the banks bid against each other. The municipality then gets the benefit of a higher investment rate from the combination of increased competition and the auction format. In the two Pittsburgh School District auctions, the following local banks submitted bids: ESB Bank, National City Bank, PNC Bank and Allegheny Valley Bank. Chris Berdnik, Director of Finance for the School District of Pittsburgh, said, "This new process greatly enhances our chances of getting the most favorable interest rates on our investments. I was also pleased to see that many of our Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group partner banks are participating in the bidding process." David Hasenkopf, Director of Sales and Marketing for Grant Street Group, said, "We are delighted to be working with the School District of Pittsburgh. In addition to serving local municipal entities, Grant Street Group has begun to market YieldAuction nationally beginning with a contract with a North East-based money center bank." [Return to top] Grant Street Group Announces New Document Posting and Distribution Services (DPDS) Pittsburgh, PA December 11, 2001-- Grant Street Group announced today that it began offering its new Document Posting and Distribution Services (DPDS) to the investment community in early November. In addition to creating, archiving and electronically distributing Preliminary Official Statements (POS) and Notices of Sale (NOS), Grant Street posts Final Official Statements (OS) and other information to assist issuers in fulfilling their ongoing continuing disclosure requirements. Grant Street already has several clients using the service. Grant Street Groups new service handles this electronically through the use of a common format, (. pdf) file formatting. This service is available for both competitive and negotiated offerings. Information will be posted on the web site for as long as the client requests. [Return to top] Pennsylvania State Treasurer Barbara Hafer Announces Plans to Launch BidPA Pennsylvania State Treasurer Barbara Hafer has announced plans to launch BidPA, an on-line auction platform allowing Pennsylvania banks to competitively sell Certificates of Deposit to the Treasury Department. Treasurer Hafer will hold two back-to-back auctions on a monthly basis for 3 month and 6 month CDs. The first two auctions will be held on Wednesday, September 26. "By creating the on-line auctions, we advance Treasury's goal of investing locally whenever possible to encourage economic development within the state and, at the same time, we benefit Pennsylvania financial institutions and Pennsylvania taxpayers", said Hafer. "The auctions create a level playing field for qualified financial institutions to compete for state investments, while helping to ensure that we are getting the best return for the taxpayers." "Treasurer Hafer is the first State Treasurer in the country to conduct Internet auctions for two different CD maturities, and consequently, we expect Pennsylvania will have more bidders than any other state - which can only result in better rates," said Myles Harrington, President and Co-Founder of Grant Street Group. The Grant Street Group has created similar private-label web sites for five other states -- Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Louisiana and Idaho. [Return to top] Capital Markets Still Functioning Pittsburgh, PA (September 12, 2001) -- The State of Texas conducted a successful auction today using its investment web site, www.BidTX.com, to purchase $70 million of 6-month certificates of deposit. The bidders--41 Texas banks--submitted 143 bids totaling $110 million, which compares favorably with results of similar auctions conducted by the State in recent months. "We are pleasantly surprised by the large number of bidders and the bidding volume. In light of yesterday's tragedy, we expected the capital markets to be paralyzed today," said Myles Harrington, President and Co-Founder of Grant Street Group, the Internet auction firm that created and administers the BidTX web site, as well as a dozen other institutional fixed-income trading sites, including MuniAuction. [Return to top] Opening of YieldAuction Web Site In an effort to help money market participants recover from the impact of Tuesday's tragedy, Grant Street Group is offering the use of its YieldAuction web site -- free of charge -- to institutional CD and TD players. Our staff will be available by phone to assist you and your counterparties with web site demonstrations and training. YieldAuction ( www.yieldauction.com ) is designed to facilitate: 1) direct purchase and sale of CDs between issuing banks and institutional investors, and 2) placement of time deposits. During the past few weeks we have made (and we will continue to make) numerous enhancements to the web site at the suggestion of market participants, including the addition of a bulletin board for banks to post rates and of a feature that allows buyers to control how bids are solicited. We hope that making the site available at no charge through the end of September will help money market participants fill the void left as a result of the destruction, disruption, and tragic losses suffered by broker-dealers and other market players. The site will be available beginning Monday, September 17. Those wishing to use it, or wishing to learn more about how using it can help them, need to contact us, to register and to be trained in its use. Contact Robert Miller by phone at 412-391-5555 ext. 339 or by email at Miller.Robert@grantstreet.com. [Return to top] Grant Street Group Sues Thomson Financial for Patent Infringement Pittsburgh, PA (June 6, 2001) -- Grant Street Group (formerly MuniAuction) has served Thomson Financial (Toronto, Canada Exchange TOC.TO) with a complaint filed in Federal Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, alleging patent infringement. In December 2000, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded a patent to Grant Street Group for its unique new process of electronic bidding on new issues of fixed-income instruments. Since then Thomson has completed more than 350 competitive municipal bond sales using the patented methodology. Generally, the patent covers a process of auctioning bonds and soliciting investments with the following five characteristics: 1) An issuer of securities, 2) selling or purchasing fixed income instruments over an electronic network, 3) using an auction (or "competitive sale") format, 4) with software that performs an interest cost calculation, 5) employing a web browser for inputting, computing, submitting, or displaying data. "We had hoped to avoid a protracted and expensive legal contest with Thomson," said Myles Harrington, President and Co-Founder of Grant Street Group, "but, since the patent issued, they have refused to meet with us to resolve the matter amicably." Attorney Ray Niro from the Chicago law firm of Niro, Scavone, Haller & Niro will represent Grant Street Group. Mr. Niro is widely recognized as one of the countrys most successful plaintiffs attorneys in the field of intellectual property litigation. Since 1997 his clients have received jury verdicts and settlements for patent infringement with an aggregate value exceeding $250 million. The firm has extensive experience in the litigation of intellectual property cases, including patent, trademark and copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition and related business torts. [Return to top] First Internet Auction of Custody Securities by Lender/Custodian Pittsburgh, PA (May 17, 2001) -- Mellon Financial Corporations Global Securities Lending Group conducted its first Internet based auction of securities held in custody on Wednesday, May 16. Dealers submitted bids to borrow shares of a highly sought after equity in an open auction lasting 30 minutes. During the auction, bidders were permitted to see whether their bids were "leading" or "not leading" and then improve them. "We were pleasantly surprised by how smoothly this first auction proceeded", said Dessie Bonacci, Vice President of Mellon Financial's Global Securities Lending Group. "We plan to conduct similar auctions regularly in the future, because we believe the auction format will help us to get the best available prices for our customers' securities rapidly and efficiently." Grant Street Group developed and maintains Mellon's private label auction web site, www.MellonGSLauction.com. Eric Glassbrenner, Grant Street's Project Manager for the Securities Lending site said, "We are delighted to have this opportunity to support Mellon's latest Internet initiative." "This is a logical application of Internet technology to the capital markets; one which others will no doubt follow," he added. Mellon Financial Corporation is a global financial services company. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Mellon is one of the world's leading providers of asset management, trust, custody and benefits consulting services and offers a comprehensive array of banking services for individuals and corporations. Mellon has approximately $2.8 trillion in assets under management, administration or custody, including $520 billion under management. Its asset management companies include The Dreyfus Corporation and Newton Investment Management Limited (U.K.). [Return to top] BidOhio Receives a National Award from the GFOA BidOhio, an Internet-based auction platform created by Grant Street Group for the Ohio Treasurer's jumbo CD program, won its third national award when the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) selected Ohio to receive the Louisville Award for Financial Innovation. BidOhio has previously been recognized by the Association for Financial Professionals and MuniNet Magazine and is a semi-finalist for the Innovation in American Government Award given by Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government. "I am honored that BidOhio continues to be recognized nationally, especially considering the quality field of entries," said Ohio Treasurer Joseph Deters. "But the real winners continue to be Ohio taxpayers and communities, both of which are well-served by BidOhio's success." [Return to top] Wilmington Trust Expands Financial Offerings with WTauctions.com Site Created and Maintained by Grant Street Group WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 29, 2001 via NewsEdge Corporation - Wilmington Trust introduced the financial industrys first online transaction Web site connecting brokers-dealers, issuers, and indenture trustees of auction reset securities, a frequent investment option for corporations and high-net-worth individuals. Through wtauctions.com, Wilmington Trust enters the $50 billion auction reset securities market. Traditionally, most other providers facilitate transactions using less timely and less secure processing methods, such as fax machines and e-mail. By using wtauctions.com, however, investors are assured a secure real-time flow of information among broker-dealers, issuers, and indenture trustees. "Automating the cumbersome auction reset exchange process makes it a tremendously more appealing option for both investors and issuers," said Michael Diaz, a vice president in Wilmington Trusts specialty corporate trust business, who is spearheading the sales effort for wtauctions.com. "This service not only makes these highly complex financial transactions easier to execute, but also makes them more profitable for investors and issuers alike." Using Web-based technology, wtauctions.com sets the standard for serving as auction agent for auction reset securities. These securities carry floating rates that are reset by a series of Dutch Auctions in the broker-dealer community. As the auction agent, Wilmington Trust receives the bids, calculates the winning rate, and settles the securities with the Depository Trust Company, all within a matter of minutes. Reports are customized by a user profile, secured by the most advanced encryption technology, and are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week over the Web. "It shouldnt be a surprise that Wilmington Trust is first to the Web in delivering instant exchanges and greater security for high-net-worth transactions," Diaz said. "We entered this finance segment to help facilitate its growth by creating a state-of-the-art auction systemthe first of its kind." About Wilmington Trust Wilmington Trust Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wilmington Trust Corporation (NYSE:WL), was founded in 1903. The company provides wealth management, corporate trust, and commercial banking services to customers throughout the United States and in more than 50 other countries online and from offices in California, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, London, and the Cayman and Channel Islands. For more information about Wilmington Trust, visit www.wilmingtontrust.com. [Return to top] Grant Street Group Developing Auction Site for FWW FWW Press Release: FWW Financial, Ltd. is pleased to announce the development of its private label website, www.FWWAuction.com. FWW Auction will allow our clients access to the benefits of issuing and marketing bonds by a competitive auction process. The competitive auction allows for an interactive market environment as well as eases the process of electronic distribution of Official Statements. FWW Financial is the first independent financial advisor in the upper Midwest to develop a competitive auction environment for the general use of its clients. FWW Auction is a product of Grant Street Group, parent of MuniAuction. [Return to top] MuniNet Guide & Review Names MuniAuction, BidOhio and BidSC Web Sites Among its Top Picks for 2000 MuniNet Guide and Review, a newsletter designed for professionals working in the state and local government arena, named MuniAuction, BidOhio and BidSC in its top picks of outstanding web sites in 2000. These Grant Street Group web sites captured 3 of the 4 top picks in the Municipal Finance category. MuniNet cited MuniAuction as the "premier provider of online municipal bond auctions" and "king of the online municipal bond market auction industry". BidOhio, the first auction web site for jumbo certificates of deposit, remains a top pick of MuniNet due to its innovative nature and consistent performance in its second year of operation. South Carolina's BidSC site joined the ranks of BidOhio as the second investment auction web site and has been labeled a huge success by State Treasurer Grady Patterson, Jr. [Return to top] Grant Street Group Receives Sweeping Patent Covering On-line Bond Auctions MuniAuction, the Pittsburgh-based Internet company that pioneered electronic bond auctions, received a patent on its popular method of selling new bond issues. On December 12, 2000 the US Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent to MuniAuction, giving the firm exclusive rights to conduct (or license its method of conducting) bond auctions and investment solicitations that have the following five characteristics: 1) An Issuer of securities, 2) selling or purchasing fixed income instruments over an electronic network, 3) using an auction (or "competitive sale") format, 4) with software that performs an interest cost calculation, 5) employing a web browser for inputing, computing, submitting, or displaying data. MuniAuction conducted the first Internet auction of a new bond issue for the City of Pittsburgh in November 1997. Since then, the firm has conducted over 1,100 auctions exceeding $1.1 trillion in volume. "We are gratified that after 4 years and substantial expense, we have finally obtained legal protection for our invention," said Myles Harrington, President and Co-Founder of MuniAuction. "Others have copied our methodology and used their practically unlimited financial resources to offer it for free; now, we can at least collect licensing fees or else stop infringement," he added. MuniAuction is currently using the patented methodology for sales of new bond and note issues as well as for solicitations of jumbo CDs and flex repurchase agreements. "We expect licensing fees to become a substantial source of revenues for MuniAuction, since our method of auctioning fixed income financial instruments will become increasingly popular as fixed income markets migrate to the Internet," Mr. Harrington noted. This month, the firm will change its name to reflect completion of its transition from an auction service for new issues of municipal bonds to an ASP (application service provider) that both hosts auctions of financial instruments and develops customized software to support institutional sales and administration of fixed income financial instruments. [Return to top] MuniAuction Changes Name Pittsburgh, PA (February 12, 2001) MuniAuction, the Pittsburgh-based firm that pioneered Internet auctions of new bond issues, has changed its name to Grant Street Group. The new name reflects completion of the company's transition from an Internet auctioneer for new municipal bond issues to a unique application service provider (ASP) that both hosts Internet auctions of financial instruments and develops customized software to support auctions and administration of institutional sales and purchases of fixed-income financial instruments. On December 12, 2000, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued the company a patent, giving the firm exclusive rights to conduct (or license its method of conducting) bond auctions and investment solicitations that have the following five characteristics: 1) an Issuer of securities, 2) selling or purchasing fixed income instruments over an electronic network, 3) using an auction (or "competitive sale") format, 4) with software that performs an interest cost calculation, 5) employing a web browser for inputting, computing, submitting or displaying data. "Achieving two important milestones precipitated the decision to change our name: 1) reaching $1 trillion in cumulative auction volume last November, which represents 10% of total annual US bond issuance; and, 2) obtaining a patent on our auction methodology," said Myles Harrington, President and co-Founder of the company. He added, "As a consequence of these achievements, we are receiving inquiries every month from global financial institutions that are interested in trying new applications for our patented methodology that are supported by our software development and auction administration expertise." [Return to top] Louisiana to Hold its First Jumbo CD Auction on April 17 On Tuesday, April 17, 2001, the State of Louisiana will hold its first Internet auction for jumbo certificates of deposit (CDs) on its private-label web site (www.BidLouisiana.com) created by the Grant Street Group. The Louisiana Department of the Treasury will conduct quarterly auctions for the placement of $50 million in State funds with Louisiana banks offering the best rates. Louisiana is the fourth state to utilize this on-line, competitive auction platform for its CD investments, joining the ranks of Ohio, South Carolina and Texas. [Return to top] MuniAuction Hosts First Internet Auction of a Tax-Exempt Interest Rate Swap Pittsburgh, PA (February 5, 2001) -- MuniAuction, the Pittsburgh-based firm that pioneered Internet auctions of new bond issues, and who recently received a patent on its auction methodology, hosted the first Internet auction of a tax-exempt interest rate swap on February 1. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts conducted the auction on their private label web site, www.BidMass.com, created and maintained by MuniAuction. The notional amount of the floating-to-fixed rate swap auction was $496,225,000. The winning bidder was Morgan Stanley Dean Witter with a rate of 4.150%. The cover bid, submitted by Salomon Smith Barney, was 4.248%. The third and fourth place bids were submitted by Lehman Brothers (4.266%) and Goldman Sachs (4.285%), respectively. The swap bids represented an important part of a multi-phase financing plan that included the issuance of $250,000,000 of fixed rate bonds via competitive sale in January, the issuance of $468,420,000 fixed rate refunding bonds on February 1, and the issuance of $496,225,000 of weekly variable rate refunding bonds within the next two weeks. BidMass recently used the same private label web site for two other sizeable financing transactions, including a $400 million one-year note auction last August and a $250 million bond auction two weeks ago. In both cases, the Commonwealth employed innovative auction formats such as: i) a "two-minute-rule" that triggered several two-minute extensions whenever a leading bid was submitted with less than two minutes remaining on the auction clock, thereby giving all other bidders an opportunity to enter new leading bids before the end of the auction extension period; and ii) displaying each bidders rank relative to other bidders (without displaying others bids), to guide them in making appropriate improvements in their bids during the auction. These innovations were not incorporated into the swap bidding procedures yesterday, in recognition of the fact that it was the bidders first electronic swap auction. "The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is firmly committed to executing its capital markets transactions as efficiently and as competitively as possible," said Jeffrey Stearns, Deputy Treasurer for the Commonwealth. "Internet bidding is a significant improvement over past practices," he added. Myles Harrington, President and Co-Founder of MuniAuction said, "based upon recent inquiries that MuniAuction has received from other prominent bond issuers, who are contemplating similar floating-to-fixed swap arrangements, MuniAuction will host several more swap auctions for bond issuers in the first quarter of 2001." "This is another important application for our patented methodology," he added. [Return to top] Auction Rate Preferred Securities Move to Internet Pittsburgh, PA, January 18,2001- MuniAuction has conducted another transaction in Auction Rate Preferred securities (ARPs) through Wilmington Trust, (http://www.WTauctions.com). MuniAuction's ability to create auction and exchange platforms for the capital markets has created opportunities for development of a wide range of web-based applications. MuniAuction typically creates the platforms for its clients and then hosts their transactions on its own servers. [Return to top] MuniComp Gains Market Support Pittsburgh, PA, January 18,2001- MuniAuction's online bid calculator, MuniComp, continues to impress underwriters, issuers and financial advisors alike. "The unique combination of MuniComp's features creates an "auction tool" with which underwriters can both calculate and submit bids while still actively participating in a real-time auction" says Chris Blackwood, Manager of E-Commerce at Kirkpatrick Pettis Financial Advisors. Blackwood added that "the ability to store and submit multiple bids adds great value to the dynamic auction process, improving the efficiency of the process and potentially lowering interest rates to the issuer." [Return to top] MuniAuction Chooses Inflow's Pittsburgh Colocation Center Inflow Improves Internet Reliability, Security of Live Auction Web Site DENVER and PITTSBURGH, Dec. 5 -- InFlow, Inc., a national leader in first class data centers and managed services, was chosen by MuniAuction to provide quality colocation with 24x7x365 onsite customer service. Focused on real-time Internet auctions, MuniAuction has installed its production servers in Inflow's Pittsburgh DNX (Data Network Exchange) facility. MuniAuction will utilize Inflow's managed services including InflowNet(TM) and SecureFlow(TM) to enhance its real-time auctions and customer transaction security. After careful evaluation of Inflow's facilities, services and consultation with our clients, we were convinced that Inflow is uniquely qualified to be our colocation facility,'' said Myles Harrington, MuniAuction's president. For a company that conducts live auctions on the Web, Internet uptime is a must,'' said Bill Wosilius, Inflow's Pittsburgh general manager. MuniAuction needed an infrastructure that would grow with the company and Inflow matched their core values and requirements for reliability, security and network performance.'' MuniAuction conducts $20 billion in Internet auctions every week for two of the largest bond issuers in the world, Freddie Mac and Federal Home Loan Banks, in addition to serving many of the largest municipal bond issuers in the country. MuniAuction's site is now backed by Inflow's security and network managed services to provide continuous Internet access needed for live auctions, financial transactions and future international businesses. Inflow's InflowNet service provides high Internet redundant access and performance through its multiple Tier-1 ISP network. SecureFlow, Inflow's managed firewall service, prevents unauthorized crossing of network perimeters and deters the latest attacks. These services combined enhance MuniAuction's end-user experience and safeguard the operations of its online auctions. MuniAuction joins Inflow's growing customer base that includes MapQuest, AtHome Corporation, Headhunter.net, RedHat, randmcnally.com and others. In 2000, the number of Inflow customers has grown from 60 to more than 340. To support the increase in business, Inflow has expanded its DNX (Data Network Exchange) facilities from three to 15 and its staff from 107 to more than 590 company-wide. About MuniAuction MuniAuction is the country's first web site for auctions of fixed income securities and in particular, municipal bonds and agency discount notes. MuniAuction serves bond issuers, institutional investors, and municipal treasurers by hosting Internet auctions for the sale of bonds and for the purchase of money market instruments. In addition to developing customized auction software for institutional sales of fixed income securities and treasury investment products, MuniAuction provides on-going auction hosting and support services to debt issuers, institutional investors, underwriters and financial consultants. Since November 1997, MuniAuction has hosted more than 560 Internet auctions of fixed income securities totaling more than $1 trillion. MuniAuction, which has 35 employees, is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has a branch office in the San Francisco Bay Area. More information on MuniAuction is available at www.muniauction.com, or by calling 412-391-7686. About Inflow Inflow is a leader in first class data centers and managed services, designed for mission critical e-businesses. The company guarantees 100 percent uptime in Internet access through multiple Tier 1 service-provider networks. Inflow's cost effective services, certified engineers and first rate customer service allows companies to focus on their core business and outsource their back-office IT departments. Inflow, with headquarters in Denver, Colorado, owns and operates 15 Internet data centers in emerging technology cities nationwide. The company plans to open six additional sites within the next six months, including its first international facility in Dublin, Ireland. For additional information and data center locations, please visit www.inflow.com or call 877-321-2464. For investor inquiries, please contact Whitney Fogt at 303-942-2840. [Return to top] Texas Held Its First Jumbo CD Auction on Private-Label Site. On December 6, 2000, the State of Texas hosted its first auction for jumbo CDs over the Internet. Texas Comptroller Carole Keeton Rylander said $70 million in certificates of deposit were awarded to 42 banks, credit unions and savings and loans at an average interest rate of 6.19 percent. Texas joined the states of Ohio and South Carolina in creating a private-label web site (www.BidTX.com) for the placement of time deposits. On a monthly basis, the Texas Comptroller will purchase $70 million in CDs from Texas depositories offering the highest interest rates. This new program, BidTX, will ensure fairness and improve competitiveness in the placements of these funds. [Return to top] MuniAuction Over $1 Trillion in Par Amount PITTSBURGH, PA (November 14, 2000) MuniAuction, the Pittsburgh-based firm that pioneered Internet auctions of new bond issues conducted an auction today that pushed the company's total volume over $1 trillion. Three years ago, MuniAuction conducted the first Internet auction of a new bond issue in a controversial $70 million sale for the City of Pittsburgh. Several of the major Wall Street bond underwriters, including Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, opposed the sale because of innovations in the bidding process that were intended to increase competition by increasing the number of bidders. Since that first sale in November 1997, the volume of electronic municipal bond sales has exploded. Year-to-date, 14% of all competitive municipal bond sales have been conducted electronically. With the exception of two recent sales by Dow Chemical and Deutsche Bank, the corporate bond market has not adopted electronic bidding for new issues. However, federal agency issuers like Freddie Mac and Federal Home Loan Banks have adopted the new Internet auction methodology offering nearly $20 billion of discount notes every week. Both Agencies use "private label" web sites created and hosted by MuniAuction, who also acts as auction administrator. "This $1 trillion milestone makes MuniAuction one of the three largest Internet commerce companies in existence," said Myles Harrington, President and Co-Founder of MuniAuction. "We anticipate an additional $1.5 trillion of auction volume in 2001," he added. Because profit margins are so thin for auctions of fixed-income securities, MuniAuction has diversified into software development and application-hosting services for financial institutions engaged in fixed-income securities trading and bond administration services. As a result, the company will change its name in January. "Based upon the size and quality of the financial institutions who have recently engaged us to develop customized bond auction and debt administration tools for them, we foresee spectacular growth opportunities for MuniAuction in this new area," Harrington said. More information on MuniAuction is available at www.MuniAuction.com, or by calling 412-391-7686. [Return to top] Housing GICs Continue Shift to MuniAuction's Electronic GIC Platform Oregon Housing and Community Services Department conducted a GIC auction on the MuniAuction platform on November 14, 2000 for $35 million in public funds. MuniAuction has acted as agent for 22 previous GICs totaling $1.2 billion in par value. Others using the MuniAuction platform have included Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, Massachusetts Water Resource Authority, Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency, Clark County (NV) and the City of Oakland (CA). [Return to top] Go to: Rules (modified 11/11/2025 @ 12:41 pm), Selections, Results Exit to: Home Page For Auction Support call (412) 391-5555 or email AuctionSupport@GrantStreet.com Copyright © 1997-2026 Grant Street Group. All rights reserved. Grant Street Group's auction services are protected by U.S. Patent Nos. 6,161,099, 7,523,063, and patents pending.
Wells Fargo & Company is a diversified financial services company with $397 billion in assets, providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and consumer finance from more than 5,900 stores and the Internet (wellsfargo.com) across North America and elsewhere internationally. Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. is the only "Aaa"- rated bank in the United States.
Pittsburgh, PA (March 30, 2004) Woodbury County, Iowa solicited $401,000 in CDs using GFOA YieldAdvantage, a new Internet auction web site offered by the Government Finance Officers Association. Traditionally, government entities and school districts solicit bids from banks via phone. Using the GFOA YieldAdvantage web site, state and local governments are able to solicit bids easily and efficiently from a larger number of banks via the Internet and to conduct an on-line auction in which these banks bid against each other for the deposit. The state or local government gets the benefit of a higher investment rate from the combination of increased competition and the auction format. Solicitation amounts range from $100,000 (or less in some instances) to millions of dollars. In Woodbury County, the Treasurer was interested in investing $401,000 and accepted bids for 1, 2, and 3 year CDs from the County's 17 approved banks. After receiving bids on all 3 durations during the 30-minute auction, the County accepted the 2-year CD.
Pittsburgh, PA (February 5, 2004) Using an online auction platform for the first time, Cook County earned significantly better yields on the investment of its bond proceeds than it has in the past. The County placed $100 million in investments using GFOA YieldAdvantage, a new Internet auction website offered by the Government Finance Officers Association.
Tom Glaser, chief financial officer of Cook County, said he was pleased with the results of the sale. "We got more bids for more kinds of instruments and at more competitive rates than ever before", he said. "We will definitely be using this platform on a regular basis in the future. It simplified every aspect of the investment process, from soliciting bids to exchanging confirms and settlement information, and it's all done electronically."
The County held two back-to-back solicitations - one for a guaranteed investment contract (GIC) and the other for a laddered portfolio of open market securities comprised of treasury and agency securities, certificates of deposit, commercial paper and repurchase agreements.
Bids for the GIC were submitted in an "open" auction where bidders saw the rank of their bids and had the opportunity to improve their rates. Fifty-three bids were submitted by 11 firms, with the winning firm receiving the award for the $80 million investment at an interest rate of 1.20 percent.
The laddered portfolio transaction was a "sealed" solicitation in which eight banks and broker-dealers submitted quotes for 10 individual maturities ranging from one to 10 months. The best aggregate rate for the portfolio was 1.03 percent. This solicitation resulted in two $10 million awards, with the County purchasing 60-day commercial paper and a 90-day agency discount note from the two firms quoting the best rates for those maturities.
Both the 1.20 percent GIC rate and 1.03 percent aggregate portfolio rate obtained on YieldAdvantage were superior to the benchmark, a 0.93 percent yield on a Treasury Bill of comparable term.
Historically, governments have sought several quotes from local banks before investing their cash. This is done via fax or over the telephone, and often consumes a significant portion of a treasury manager's day. GFOA YieldAdvantage revolutionizes this process by creating a marketplace in which banks compete for a government's investment business. Competition optimizes the yields that governments earn on their short-term cash investments. In addition, the functionality built into the site expedites the investment process.
In a typical open bid auction, a government specifies the quantity and type of investment instruments it wants to buy, and then opens up the auction. Banks bid against each other until the auction closes, at which point the government awards the funds to the bidder that best suits its needs, usually the highest bidder. During the auction, banks can view their rank, but not the best bid. In a sealed bid auction, bidders receive no feedback and hence submit just their best bids.
In a sealed bid auction, GFOA YieldAdvantage allows governments to solicit bids for multiple investment instruments. It can be used to invest in collateralized or non-collateralized certificates of deposit, commercial paper, treasury and agency securities, and repurchase agreements. This flexibility allows governments to diversify their short-term investments, and the platform automatically compares returns across the various instruments, which further streamlines the cash investment process.
"Investment officers are always on the lookout for opportunities to improve yield and make the investment process more efficient, all the while ensuring that their portfolios are safe," said GFOA Executive Director Jeffrey L. Esser "GFOA YieldAdvantage is one way that governments can meet these goals."
The auctions will be powered by Grant Street Group, whose base product, YieldAuction, is currently being used by a number of jurisdictions, including Monroe County, NY; Sioux County and Story County, IA; and St. Johns County Tax Collectors Office, FL.
"This service is an indispensable tool in today's challenging cash management environment," said Gerald Mecca, chief financial officer of Monroe County, NY "I wouldn't want to go to work without it." GFOA YieldAdvantage features the same functionality as YieldAuction.
GFOA is the leading professional association for those interested in government finance. GFOA's membership consists of more than 15,500 local, state, and provincial government finance officers and others responsible for financial policy decisions in governmental entities, public employee retirement systems, and various special districts. The association is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, and has offices in Washington, D.C. For more information, visit GFOA's Web site a www.gfoa.org.
"Enhancing our auction agent services demonstrates our commitment to investing in our corporate trust business and providing the latest technology to our clients. By offering auction agent services to clients, we make it easier for them to depend on us for all their trust needs," said Linda Delaney, managing director of Corporate Trust for Wachovia.
Wachovia's auction agent services include:
Wachovia also can serve as trustee, paying agent and transfer agent and has a centralized, dedicated team of auction agent specialists based in New York City who can provide accurate reports and respond to inquiries with speed and confidentiality. Wachovia Auction Direct, powered by Grant Street Group, also offers auction calendars, daily summaries, CUSIP summaries and real-time auction results.
Wachovia Corporate and Institutional Trust offers retirement services, custodial services and investment management, conventional and structured finance trust solutions, equity services, information management and claims processing, and Investment Holding Company (IHC) services to institutional clients worldwide. Based in Charlotte, N.C., Wachovia Corporate and Institutional Trust has 37 locations in 17 states plus the District of Columbia.
Wachovia Corporation (NYSE:WB) is one of the largest providers of financial services to retail, brokerage and corporate customers throughout the East Coast and the nation, with assets of $364 billion and stockholders' equity of $32 billion at June 30, 2003. Its four core businesses, the General Bank, Capital Management, Wealth Management and the Corporate and Investment Bank, serve 9 million households, including 900,000 businesses, primarily in 11 East Coast states and Washington, D.C. Its broker-dealer, currently operating under the names Wachovia Securities, LLC, and Prudential Securities Division of Wachovia Securities, LLC, serves clients through 700 offices in 48 states. Global services are provided through more than 30 international offices. Online banking and brokerage products and services also are available through wachovia.com.
Pittsburgh, PA (February 11, 2002) Grant Street Group (formerly MuniAuction), the Pittsburgh based Internet auction house for fixed-income securities, recently used its new money market investment platform, YieldAuction, to solicit $5 million of CDs from South Carolina banks for Lexington County. Traditionally, government entities and school districts solicit bids from banks via phone. Using the YieldAuction web site, municipalities are able to solicit bids easily and efficiently from a larger number of banks via the Internet and to conduct an on-line auction in which these banks bid against each other for the deposit. The municipality gets the benefit of a higher investment rate from the combination of increased competition and the auction format. In the Lexington County auction, seven South Carolina banks submitted over thirty bids during the thirty-minute auction.
Bill Rowell, Treasurer of Lexington County, and Brad Mathis, Deputy Treasurer, said they were very pleased with the results of this first auction. David Hasenkopf, Director of Sales and Marketing for Grant Street Group, said, "We are delighted to have Lexington County as the first user of YieldAuction in South Carolina. We look forward to making YieldAuction available to other users in the State as well."
Pittsburgh, PA (January 14, 2002) -- In November and December 2001, Grant Street Group (formerly MuniAuction), the Pittsburgh based Internet auction house for fixed-income securities, used its new money market investment platform to solicit $13.5 million of CDs from Pittsburgh area banks. Traditionally, school districts and other municipal entities solicit bids from banks via phone and then simply deposit their funds with the institution offering the highest rate for a given period of time. Using YieldAuction, municipalities are able to solicit bids from a much larger number of banks via the Internet and conduct an auction in which the banks bid against each other. The municipality then gets the benefit of a higher investment rate from the combination of increased competition and the auction format. In the two Pittsburgh School District auctions, the following local banks submitted bids: ESB Bank, National City Bank, PNC Bank and Allegheny Valley Bank. Chris Berdnik, Director of Finance for the School District of Pittsburgh, said, "This new process greatly enhances our chances of getting the most favorable interest rates on our investments. I was also pleased to see that many of our Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group partner banks are participating in the bidding process."
David Hasenkopf, Director of Sales and Marketing for Grant Street Group, said, "We are delighted to be working with the School District of Pittsburgh. In addition to serving local municipal entities, Grant Street Group has begun to market YieldAuction nationally beginning with a contract with a North East-based money center bank."
Grant Street Groups new service handles this electronically through the use of a common format, (. pdf) file formatting. This service is available for both competitive and negotiated offerings. Information will be posted on the web site for as long as the client requests.
"By creating the on-line auctions, we advance Treasury's goal of investing locally whenever possible to encourage economic development within the state and, at the same time, we benefit Pennsylvania financial institutions and Pennsylvania taxpayers", said Hafer. "The auctions create a level playing field for qualified financial institutions to compete for state investments, while helping to ensure that we are getting the best return for the taxpayers."
"Treasurer Hafer is the first State Treasurer in the country to conduct Internet auctions for two different CD maturities, and consequently, we expect Pennsylvania will have more bidders than any other state - which can only result in better rates," said Myles Harrington, President and Co-Founder of Grant Street Group.
The Grant Street Group has created similar private-label web sites for five other states -- Ohio, South Carolina, Texas, Louisiana and Idaho.
YieldAuction ( www.yieldauction.com ) is designed to facilitate: 1) direct purchase and sale of CDs between issuing banks and institutional investors, and 2) placement of time deposits. During the past few weeks we have made (and we will continue to make) numerous enhancements to the web site at the suggestion of market participants, including the addition of a bulletin board for banks to post rates and of a feature that allows buyers to control how bids are solicited.
We hope that making the site available at no charge through the end of September will help money market participants fill the void left as a result of the destruction, disruption, and tragic losses suffered by broker-dealers and other market players.
The site will be available beginning Monday, September 17. Those wishing to use it, or wishing to learn more about how using it can help them, need to contact us, to register and to be trained in its use.
Contact Robert Miller by phone at 412-391-5555 ext. 339 or by email at Miller.Robert@grantstreet.com.
1) An issuer of securities, 2) selling or purchasing fixed income instruments over an electronic network, 3) using an auction (or "competitive sale") format, 4) with software that performs an interest cost calculation, 5) employing a web browser for inputting, computing, submitting, or displaying data.
"We had hoped to avoid a protracted and expensive legal contest with Thomson," said Myles Harrington, President and Co-Founder of Grant Street Group, "but, since the patent issued, they have refused to meet with us to resolve the matter amicably."
Attorney Ray Niro from the Chicago law firm of Niro, Scavone, Haller & Niro will represent Grant Street Group. Mr. Niro is widely recognized as one of the countrys most successful plaintiffs attorneys in the field of intellectual property litigation. Since 1997 his clients have received jury verdicts and settlements for patent infringement with an aggregate value exceeding $250 million. The firm has extensive experience in the litigation of intellectual property cases, including patent, trademark and copyright infringement, trade secret misappropriation, unfair competition and related business torts.
Grant Street Group developed and maintains Mellon's private label auction web site, www.MellonGSLauction.com. Eric Glassbrenner, Grant Street's Project Manager for the Securities Lending site said, "We are delighted to have this opportunity to support Mellon's latest Internet initiative." "This is a logical application of Internet technology to the capital markets; one which others will no doubt follow," he added.
Mellon Financial Corporation is a global financial services company. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Mellon is one of the world's leading providers of asset management, trust, custody and benefits consulting services and offers a comprehensive array of banking services for individuals and corporations. Mellon has approximately $2.8 trillion in assets under management, administration or custody, including $520 billion under management. Its asset management companies include The Dreyfus Corporation and Newton Investment Management Limited (U.K.).
"I am honored that BidOhio continues to be recognized nationally, especially considering the quality field of entries," said Ohio Treasurer Joseph Deters. "But the real winners continue to be Ohio taxpayers and communities, both of which are well-served by BidOhio's success."
Through wtauctions.com, Wilmington Trust enters the $50 billion auction reset securities market. Traditionally, most other providers facilitate transactions using less timely and less secure processing methods, such as fax machines and e-mail. By using wtauctions.com, however, investors are assured a secure real-time flow of information among broker-dealers, issuers, and indenture trustees.
"Automating the cumbersome auction reset exchange process makes it a tremendously more appealing option for both investors and issuers," said Michael Diaz, a vice president in Wilmington Trusts specialty corporate trust business, who is spearheading the sales effort for wtauctions.com. "This service not only makes these highly complex financial transactions easier to execute, but also makes them more profitable for investors and issuers alike."
Using Web-based technology, wtauctions.com sets the standard for serving as auction agent for auction reset securities. These securities carry floating rates that are reset by a series of Dutch Auctions in the broker-dealer community. As the auction agent, Wilmington Trust receives the bids, calculates the winning rate, and settles the securities with the Depository Trust Company, all within a matter of minutes.
Reports are customized by a user profile, secured by the most advanced encryption technology, and are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week over the Web. "It shouldnt be a surprise that Wilmington Trust is first to the Web in delivering instant exchanges and greater security for high-net-worth transactions," Diaz said. "We entered this finance segment to help facilitate its growth by creating a state-of-the-art auction systemthe first of its kind."
About Wilmington Trust
Wilmington Trust Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wilmington Trust Corporation (NYSE:WL), was founded in 1903. The company provides wealth management, corporate trust, and commercial banking services to customers throughout the United States and in more than 50 other countries online and from offices in California, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, London, and the Cayman and Channel Islands. For more information about Wilmington Trust, visit www.wilmingtontrust.com.
MuniNet cited MuniAuction as the "premier provider of online municipal bond auctions" and "king of the online municipal bond market auction industry". BidOhio, the first auction web site for jumbo certificates of deposit, remains a top pick of MuniNet due to its innovative nature and consistent performance in its second year of operation. South Carolina's BidSC site joined the ranks of BidOhio as the second investment auction web site and has been labeled a huge success by State Treasurer Grady Patterson, Jr.
1) An Issuer of securities, 2) selling or purchasing fixed income instruments over an electronic network, 3) using an auction (or "competitive sale") format, 4) with software that performs an interest cost calculation, 5) employing a web browser for inputing, computing, submitting, or displaying data.
MuniAuction conducted the first Internet auction of a new bond issue for the City of Pittsburgh in November 1997. Since then, the firm has conducted over 1,100 auctions exceeding $1.1 trillion in volume. "We are gratified that after 4 years and substantial expense, we have finally obtained legal protection for our invention," said Myles Harrington, President and Co-Founder of MuniAuction. "Others have copied our methodology and used their practically unlimited financial resources to offer it for free; now, we can at least collect licensing fees or else stop infringement," he added.
MuniAuction is currently using the patented methodology for sales of new bond and note issues as well as for solicitations of jumbo CDs and flex repurchase agreements. "We expect licensing fees to become a substantial source of revenues for MuniAuction, since our method of auctioning fixed income financial instruments will become increasingly popular as fixed income markets migrate to the Internet," Mr. Harrington noted. This month, the firm will change its name to reflect completion of its transition from an auction service for new issues of municipal bonds to an ASP (application service provider) that both hosts auctions of financial instruments and develops customized software to support institutional sales and administration of fixed income financial instruments.
On December 12, 2000, the US Patent and Trademark Office issued the company a patent, giving the firm exclusive rights to conduct (or license its method of conducting) bond auctions and investment solicitations that have the following five characteristics:
1) an Issuer of securities, 2) selling or purchasing fixed income instruments over an electronic network, 3) using an auction (or "competitive sale") format, 4) with software that performs an interest cost calculation, 5) employing a web browser for inputting, computing, submitting or displaying data.
"Achieving two important milestones precipitated the decision to change our name: 1) reaching $1 trillion in cumulative auction volume last November, which represents 10% of total annual US bond issuance; and, 2) obtaining a patent on our auction methodology," said Myles Harrington, President and co-Founder of the company. He added, "As a consequence of these achievements, we are receiving inquiries every month from global financial institutions that are interested in trying new applications for our patented methodology that are supported by our software development and auction administration expertise."
BidMass recently used the same private label web site for two other sizeable financing transactions, including a $400 million one-year note auction last August and a $250 million bond auction two weeks ago. In both cases, the Commonwealth employed innovative auction formats such as: i) a "two-minute-rule" that triggered several two-minute extensions whenever a leading bid was submitted with less than two minutes remaining on the auction clock, thereby giving all other bidders an opportunity to enter new leading bids before the end of the auction extension period; and ii) displaying each bidders rank relative to other bidders (without displaying others bids), to guide them in making appropriate improvements in their bids during the auction. These innovations were not incorporated into the swap bidding procedures yesterday, in recognition of the fact that it was the bidders first electronic swap auction.
"The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is firmly committed to executing its capital markets transactions as efficiently and as competitively as possible," said Jeffrey Stearns, Deputy Treasurer for the Commonwealth. "Internet bidding is a significant improvement over past practices," he added.
Myles Harrington, President and Co-Founder of MuniAuction said, "based upon recent inquiries that MuniAuction has received from other prominent bond issuers, who are contemplating similar floating-to-fixed swap arrangements, MuniAuction will host several more swap auctions for bond issuers in the first quarter of 2001." "This is another important application for our patented methodology," he added.
DENVER and PITTSBURGH, Dec. 5 -- InFlow, Inc., a national leader in first class data centers and managed services, was chosen by MuniAuction to provide quality colocation with 24x7x365 onsite customer service. Focused on real-time Internet auctions, MuniAuction has installed its production servers in Inflow's Pittsburgh DNX (Data Network Exchange) facility. MuniAuction will utilize Inflow's managed services including InflowNet(TM) and SecureFlow(TM) to enhance its real-time auctions and customer transaction security.
After careful evaluation of Inflow's facilities, services and consultation with our clients, we were convinced that Inflow is uniquely qualified to be our colocation facility,'' said Myles Harrington, MuniAuction's president.
For a company that conducts live auctions on the Web, Internet uptime is a must,'' said Bill Wosilius, Inflow's Pittsburgh general manager. MuniAuction needed an infrastructure that would grow with the company and Inflow matched their core values and requirements for reliability, security and network performance.''
MuniAuction conducts $20 billion in Internet auctions every week for two of the largest bond issuers in the world, Freddie Mac and Federal Home Loan Banks, in addition to serving many of the largest municipal bond issuers in the country. MuniAuction's site is now backed by Inflow's security and network managed services to provide continuous Internet access needed for live auctions, financial transactions and future international businesses.
Inflow's InflowNet service provides high Internet redundant access and performance through its multiple Tier-1 ISP network. SecureFlow, Inflow's managed firewall service, prevents unauthorized crossing of network perimeters and deters the latest attacks. These services combined enhance MuniAuction's end-user experience and safeguard the operations of its online auctions.
MuniAuction joins Inflow's growing customer base that includes MapQuest, AtHome Corporation, Headhunter.net, RedHat, randmcnally.com and others. In 2000, the number of Inflow customers has grown from 60 to more than 340. To support the increase in business, Inflow has expanded its DNX (Data Network Exchange) facilities from three to 15 and its staff from 107 to more than 590 company-wide.
About MuniAuction
MuniAuction is the country's first web site for auctions of fixed income securities and in particular, municipal bonds and agency discount notes. MuniAuction serves bond issuers, institutional investors, and municipal treasurers by hosting Internet auctions for the sale of bonds and for the purchase of money market instruments. In addition to developing customized auction software for institutional sales of fixed income securities and treasury investment products, MuniAuction provides on-going auction hosting and support services to debt issuers, institutional investors, underwriters and financial consultants. Since November 1997, MuniAuction has hosted more than 560 Internet auctions of fixed income securities totaling more than $1 trillion. MuniAuction, which has 35 employees, is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has a branch office in the San Francisco Bay Area.
More information on MuniAuction is available at www.muniauction.com, or by calling 412-391-7686.
About Inflow
Inflow is a leader in first class data centers and managed services, designed for mission critical e-businesses. The company guarantees 100 percent uptime in Internet access through multiple Tier 1 service-provider networks. Inflow's cost effective services, certified engineers and first rate customer service allows companies to focus on their core business and outsource their back-office IT departments.
Inflow, with headquarters in Denver, Colorado, owns and operates 15 Internet data centers in emerging technology cities nationwide. The company plans to open six additional sites within the next six months, including its first international facility in Dublin, Ireland. For additional information and data center locations, please visit www.inflow.com or call 877-321-2464. For investor inquiries, please contact Whitney Fogt at 303-942-2840.
Texas joined the states of Ohio and South Carolina in creating a private-label web site (www.BidTX.com) for the placement of time deposits. On a monthly basis, the Texas Comptroller will purchase $70 million in CDs from Texas depositories offering the highest interest rates. This new program, BidTX, will ensure fairness and improve competitiveness in the placements of these funds.
Since that first sale in November 1997, the volume of electronic municipal bond sales has exploded. Year-to-date, 14% of all competitive municipal bond sales have been conducted electronically. With the exception of two recent sales by Dow Chemical and Deutsche Bank, the corporate bond market has not adopted electronic bidding for new issues. However, federal agency issuers like Freddie Mac and Federal Home Loan Banks have adopted the new Internet auction methodology offering nearly $20 billion of discount notes every week. Both Agencies use "private label" web sites created and hosted by MuniAuction, who also acts as auction administrator.
"This $1 trillion milestone makes MuniAuction one of the three largest Internet commerce companies in existence," said Myles Harrington, President and Co-Founder of MuniAuction. "We anticipate an additional $1.5 trillion of auction volume in 2001," he added.
Because profit margins are so thin for auctions of fixed-income securities, MuniAuction has diversified into software development and application-hosting services for financial institutions engaged in fixed-income securities trading and bond administration services. As a result, the company will change its name in January. "Based upon the size and quality of the financial institutions who have recently engaged us to develop customized bond auction and debt administration tools for them, we foresee spectacular growth opportunities for MuniAuction in this new area," Harrington said.
More information on MuniAuction is available at www.MuniAuction.com, or by calling 412-391-7686.