August 15, 1995

Securities Industry Association and Public Securities Association Jointly Announce Software Library Based on Industry Standards

New York, N.Y., August 15, 1995 - The Securities Industry Association (SIA) and the Public Securities Association (PSA) today joined forces in offering a single software library designed to help the securities industry standardize the valuation and analysis of fixed income securities.

The “SIA/PSA Standard Securities Calculations Software Library,” which provides software developers of in-house and commercial systems with standard securities calculations, was produced by Trading & Investment Programs & Systems, Inc. (TIPS). The SIA/PSA Software Library includes calculations for valuation and analysis of domestic, foreign developed and emerging market fixed income securities.

“The software library will help the securities industry follow a common industry methodology when trading fixed income securities,” said Don Kittell, SIA Executive Vice President.

“While the development and publication of standard-setting formulas was a strong first step, the software will make for more automated and accurate calculations,” he said.

The SIA/PSA Software Library is available on more than 20 commonly used hardware platforms, from mainframes and minis to workstations and personal computer systems. In addition, the Library is language-independent and can be used with most common programming languages, including C, COBOL, FORTRAN, RPG, FoxPro, Visual Basic and others.

The platform and hardware independence of the SIA/PSA Library allows users to be assured all systems produce a consistent result, according to Mr. Mayle, president of TIPS.

“In addition to providing the assurance that all calculations meet industry standards, the software will be continually updated to include standards for new instruments and regulatory changes,” Mr. Mayle said. “The experiences related to us by our current clients -- leading brokerage, banking, insurance and money management firms using an earlier version of this product -- suggest that the SIA/PSA Library is more cost-effective and reliable than creating a calculation library in-house,” he said.

“SIA/PSA Standard Securities Calculations Software Library” consists of more than 800 functions for the computation of most fixed income formulae. The software is an exhaustive library of financial algorithms covering all types of instruments, including U.S. Treasury, agency, municipal and corporate securities; mortgage-backed securities; as well as foreign government bonds from developed and emerging markets. Calculations offered by the SIA/PSA Software Library include price, yield, accrued interest, duration, convexity, cash flows and total return.

Users interested in learning more about the SIA/PSA Library can request a free diskette containing complete product documentation from TIPS or download the product documentation from the TIPS web site at www.tipsinc.com. In addition, TIPS also is offering a fully functional trial copy of the SIA/PSA Library.

SIA is the securities industry’s trade association, representing the business interests of more than 700 securities firms in North America which collectively account for about 90 percent of securities firm revenue in the U.S.

PSA is the bond market trade association, representing about 300 securities firms and banks that underwrite, trade and sell debt securities both domestically and internationally. PSA’s members include all major dealers in municipal, US government, federal agency, mortgage, asset backed and corporate debt securities and money market instruments.

Founded in 1986, TIPS, Inc., is the leading provider of fixed income calculations software to the financial services industry. Users of current TIPS software products include the nation’s leading brokerage, money management, banking and insurance firms.