ELECTRONIC TRADING

* ICAP plc signs a letter of intent to acquire the majority of BrokerTec Global's trading operations. * The Bank of Ireland selects a platform from Integral to manage all of its internal and branch network- foreign-exchange pricing. * The Bloomberg Tradebook ECN decides to participate in the NASD's Alternative Display.

ICAP plc has signed a letter of intent to acquire the majority of BrokerTec Global's trading operations. Launched in June 2000, BrokerTec is an electronic inter-dealer bond broker that currently processes roughly $140 billion in transactions per day. Via its electronic platform, BrokerTec executes cash and repo transactions in U.S. treasuries, agencies and Euro-denominated sovereign debt. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed, but ICAP's acquisition will not include a pair of BrokerTec Global affiliates: the BrokerTec Futures Exchange and BrokerTec Clearing Company. Those entities will remain independent.

The Bank of Ireland (BoI), one of Ireland's largest financial services firms, has selected a platform from Integral to manage all of its internal and branch network- foreign-exchange pricing. The Integral AutoDealer system, in addition to handling BoI's FX pricing, is also expected to help the firm perform straight-through-processing (STP) of trades.

The Bloomberg Tradebook ECN has decided to participate in the NASD's Alternative Display Facility -- a quote display and trade-reporting facility that is supposed to provide a viable option for Nasdaq participants that do not want to display their stock prices on the market's SuperMontage platform. Tradebook is the first ECN to formally commit to posting its quotes on the ADF.

The International Securities Exchange, an all-electronic, U.S.-equity options market, has formed an education department. The education department, which will be a part of the exchange's marketing and business development division, will be led by Alex Jacobson -- the ISE's former vice president of business development. Jacobson will spearhead the ISE's new effort to provide educational training to ISE member firms, as well as prospective members.