2-3. eBroker (www.ebroker.com)

AmeriTrade Clearing, Inc. , founded in 1971, provides complete securities clearing services for eBroker. AmeriTrade Clearing, Inc. maintains over $395 million in assets and provides safe keeping for nearly $4.5 billion of customer cash and securities.

Among discount brokerage companies, it seems that eBroker proposes the cheapest commission fee for the present, on March 1997. Instead of the lowest fee, eBroker requires $10,000 deposit for its account. Since eBroker does not support a large staff, its customer service is limited.

Price

eBroker proposes not only the deepest discount, but also no limitation of minimum transaction.

• eBroker offers $12 per equity trade, regardless of the number of shares, or the price.

• There are no fees assessed to open any account with eBroker. Establishing an eBroker account does require $10,000 in cash or securities, however. After customerÕs account is opened there are no annual fees or minimums to maintain the account.

• There are no minimum for size or stock price on trades. eBroker accepts all trades regardless of size or price.

Services

Due to small number of staff eBroker proposes minimum customer services.

• Research, charts services

• Confirmation service of opening orders

Customers can access their accounts at any time to view their positions and to check open orders. eBroker also mail confirms on the day of the trade.

• Trading Demo

eBroker has the trading demo on its web site. This demo deals with quotes display, order status, positions, equity order, option order, transaction history, and account balance.

Security and Protection

1) Web security

eBroker adopted the ÒSecurity Screen.Ó Then, quotes, trading and customerÕs account information programs are protected.

2) Account Protection

SIPC covers each account for $500,000 ($100,000 for cash) plus an additional $10,000,000 by an independent carrier.

Payment

In order to open an account customers should initial deposit(minimum deposit is $10,000 in cash or equity in securities. Additional accounts or related family accounts do not need to meet the minimum. By downloading interactive application, customer can open an eBroker account.

eBroker accepts $US deposits by check, wire or transfer. Customer can deposit certificates by mailing them to eBroker, and customer may transfer positions held at another firm by using eBrokerÕs transfer form. Customer can request a check payable to the account holder by email.

Note: This price survey was conducted on 1st week March 1997.