2006 Traders Magazine Survey of Correspondent Clearing Firms - cont'd

Services: North American Clearing offers clearing and execution services to correspondent broker-dealers throughout the United States. The firm is dedicated to best execution, instant connectivity to the firm's back office and regular account updates to track and locate trades. Among the features offered through the firm's correspondent services is E-Advantage, which provides portfolio access directly from a client broker's Web site. North American Clearing provides all correspondents with a Web-based trading platform at no charge under a private label. In addition, North American Clearing offers Level II and real-time streaming quotes, free ATM Visa/debit cards and checks, money markets with daily sweeps and competitive money market rates. North American Clearing also offers private-label brokerage services to broker- dealers and other financial institutions that want to provide expanded services to their retail customers. NAC also provides riskless principal online at no additional cost. Services: For over thirty years, Southwest Securities has been a leading provider of correspondent clearing services for brokerage firms and financial institutions. Southwest utilizes Comprehensive Software Systems (CSS), a flexible, modular system that allows Southwest to operate 24X7. CSS provides intraday updates on correspondents' customer accounts through a point-and-click and drilldown GUI front-end. CSS allows Southwest's correspondents the ability to offer to their customers Web-based trading, e-mail trade confirmations, account information, activity tax data, and cost basis information. CSS may be accessed over the Web. Back-office services include record keeping, trade reporting, accounting, general back-office support, securities lending, reorganization and custody of securities. Southwest also advises correspondents on communications and networking and provides a variety of non- brokerage products and services. Services: TD Waterhouse Institutional Services is a provider of securities processing services to external broker-dealers in the Canadian financial marketplace. A division of TD Waterhouse Canada, TD Waterhouse Institutional Services delivers trade execution, clearing and reporting capabilities. As a wholly owned subsidiary of the TD Bank Financial Group, TD Waterhouse Institutional Services Canada offers correspondent clients access to cutting-edge technology and an array of products suited for both retail and institutional investors.