ereorg Introduces Revolutionary Internet Debt Trading Market / Auction-Based Site for Trading of $340 Billion in Bank Loans, Trade Claims And Sovereign Bank Deb

New York (PROTEXT) - A new business-to-business e-commerce company, ereorg.com, Inc. (www.ereorg.com), will establish the first online auction market for the estimated $340 billion of bank loans, trade claims and sovereign bank debt currently traded in global secondary markets. Going live in January 2000, ereorg will host auctions for par and distressed U.S. bank loans, as well as distressed U.S. trade claims. Shortly thereafter, ereorg will add international bank loans and sovereign bank debt. ereorg began registering users this week in preparation for trading in January. "By offering an unprecedented level of transparency, significantly lower transaction costs, standardized documentation, and a much shorter transaction cycle time, ereorg will revolutionize the way bank loans, trade claims and sovereign bank debt are traded," says Ronald DeKoven, the company's founder and Chief Executive Officer. "Because ereorg brings buyers and sellers together in an anonymous and secure online trading environment, the system will increase liquidity and spur market growth. Both parties benefit as buyers gain access to increased product flow and sellers reach more potential buyers. The end- result will be a new global market characterized by optimal pricing." In addition, by capturing the information on specific trades, ereorg will create the first objective database of market pricing information. ereorg users will have access to this data, facilitating price discovery and an associated increase in liquidity. Using the ereorg system Access to ereorg is free, with no registration fees charged to either buyers or sellers. All registered users can view auctions online, with all parties assured of complete anonymity. To insure a community of users who are legitimate and creditworthy, ereorg has set strict eligibility requirements for participation in ereorg auctions. As part of the registration process, buyers and sellers agree that all transactions are governed by a master confidentiality agreement and that a binding settlement agreement is formed at the close of each auction. To initiate an auction, a seller fills out an online Auction Ticket in which the seller specifies a minimum purchase price for the posted debt, the auction completion time, the form of debt purchase and other material terms of settlement. Before placing a bid, buyers have full access to the status of all open auctions and can perform due diligence by downloading debt-specific information previously posted by the seller. The buyer can request additional information from the seller by sending an anonymous Auction Information Request. Throughout the auction process, buyers can keep track of new bids and the time remaining in each auction to evaluate their bidding options. After the auction is completed, ereorg reveals the identities of the high bidder and seller only to one another. ereorg is completing its plans to partner with a respected institution to coordinate the closing of the trade through the exchange of debt instruments and purchase proceeds between buyer and seller. Both buyers and sellers pay ereorg a commission of five basis points of the face amount of the debt traded. Significant savings ereorg clients will be able to capture significant cost savings over current trading practices given ereorg's standardized documents, online format and low-priced commission structure. Users will no longer incur legal bills associated with negotiated documentation. Administrative resources can be reduced given the online posting of all due diligence information and decreased handling of transaction documentation. In addition, ereorg's commission is significantly lower than current average commissions for distressed bank loans and trade claims. ereorg will also improve the speed and efficiency of transaction settlement time. Currently, it takes 20 to 30 days (T+20 to T+30) to complete a distressed bank loan trade. For most transactions, ereorg anticipates settlement time of T+10, with some transactions closing in T+5. Over the past few months, ereorg has been consulting with a group of twenty-five key market players that includes commercial banks, institutional investors, broker-dealers and hedge funds. According to DeKoven, "Early feedback from this beta test group enabled the company to tailor the ereorg system to its users." Prior to founding ereorg, DeKoven was the senior partner responsible for managing Shearman & Sterling's global corporate restructuring practice. After launching ereorg earlier this year, DeKoven assembled a management team with backgrounds in debt trading, corporate restructuring, technology and financial services. ereorg is well-capitalized by initial investors which include Shearman & Sterling; AMT Capital Management, headed by Alan Trager, a former Morgan Stanley managing director; and Thomas Burnett, President and founder of Merger Insight(R), an institutional research service, and a former Merrill Lynch managing director. ereorg is in the process of closing an additional financing round with a global venture capital firm. ereorg has filed a patent to protect its trading process and business concept, a practice established by priceline.com and other innovative e-commerce companies. In addition, ereorg has copyrighted the ereorg User Handbook that incorporates the company's proprietary system rules and registration documents. ereorg is a registered broker-dealer and member of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. (NASD). The company itself will not buy, sell, or own debt instruments. ots Original Text Service: ereorg.com, Inc. Internet: http://www.newsaktuell.de Contact: ereorg.com, Inc., (USA) 212- 418-1150 Steven Bruce or Carina Thate of Abernathy MacGregor Frank (USA) 212-371-5999, for ereorg.com Web site: http://www.ereorg.com Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug "PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to be published under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial service providing distribution of press releases from clients, who are identified in the text of Protext reports and who bear full responsibility for their contents. PROTEXT