So for now, finance managers have to wait for a portal of their own. When exploring the fledgling finance sites that are up and running, Keane suggests that CFOs ask prospective providers about their level of integration with suppliers. "The more research you do," he says, "the safer and better off you'll be."
Tim Reason is a staff writer at CFO.
What's Out There
The Web offers a mixed bag of financial sites. Institutional investors have the most opportunities to do business on the Net now, while few of the sites designed for CFOs can actually handle transactions yet. Here's a sample of Web resources that are notable for the financial services they provide — or soon will.
| Web address | Provided by | Instruments traded | Other services provided | Comments |
| Bond.hub (Accessible to customers only via the Internet sites of its six participating firms) | Securities.hub LLC | Bonds | Syndicate- hub. com for new-issue debt instruments | Joint venture for institutional bond buyers, linking the extranets of Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, and SalomonSmithBarney into a virtual community. Not specifically designed for CFOs, but proves banks can deflect threats from third-party Web sites. |
| Capital- Stream.com | Capital Stream Inc. | Online financing approvals | Not a Web site, but an Internet service that companies can embed in their own sites to connect customers to third-party financing sources. | |
| CFOWeb.com | Integral Development Corp. | Foreign exchange, interest-rate swaps, currency swaps | Community of users, online research | To date, participating banks include ABN Amro, AIG International, Bank of America, BNP Paribas, and Standard Chartered. |
| Company- Finance.com | Company- Finance.com | Non- consolidated loans up to $100 million | Primarily for small to midsize companies. | |
| Cpmarket.com | Prescient Markets Inc. | Commercial paper | Scheduled to launch in Q2, following pilot tests. | |
| Currenex.com
| FXtrades by Currenex Inc | Foreign exchange | A multiparty, blind reverse FX auction. Launched in late April. | |
| Cygnifi.com | Cygnifi (J.P. Morgan & Co.) | Derivatives | Risk management and derivatives advice from application service provider | On its own soon; J.P. Morgan plans to spin off site to attract other banks. |
| EBon d- Trade.com | EBond- Trade.com Inc. | Municipal bonds | Primarily for institutional trades, but will soon allow governments to buy treasuries and agency bonds online. | |
| InterVest.com | InterVest Financial Services (IFS) | Bonds | Connects corporate issuers directly to investors. | |
| Muni- Auction.com | MuniAuction | Municipal bonds | Allows municipal governments to bypass underwriters and sell directly to brokers and investors. | |
| New- Markets.com | NewMarkets International | Foreign exchange | Formerly known as Sonnet Financial. | |
| Treasury- Connect.com | Treasury- Connect LLC | Interest-rate and currency swaps | Detailed trading reports | Company says trading is supported now, but STP integration is under way at only 1 of 17 participating dealers. |
| Treasury- Point.com | SEI Investments Developments Inc. | The Optimizer, an analytical tool to help users improve cash management | Site's backers plan to unveil a trading platform for institutional money market mutual funds in Q3. |
Sources: CFO and Prudential Volpe Technology Group
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