TD Waterhouse online equity trading service in Ireland

TD Waterhouse, one of the UK's leading execution-only brokers, is launching an online equity trading service in Ireland this weekend as it takes its next steps to offering its award-winning online services in other European countries.

The trading platform, tdwaterhouse.ie, goes live on Saturday, 12th September and promises to provide Irish investors with the broadest range of online trading services on local and international equity markets at the most competitive prices. Now, for the first time, Irish investors looking to take advantage of global markets will be able to execute their trades through a leading global online stockbroker with an established infrastructure and reputation for high quality service.

Angus Rigby, Chief Executive Officer, TD Waterhouse said: "We are delighted to be expanding our services to Ireland and I am confident that TD Waterhouse will quickly become the first choice for discerning retail investors wanting to trade online. Our research has shown us that the Irish market is currently dominated by a small number of online brokers with limited equity trading services at premium prices. We believe Irish retail investors would appreciate a great service at a great price. Thanks to our new trading platform - tdwaterhouse.ie - they will now enjoy both from TD Waterhouse."

In addition to providing online equity access directly to the Irish market, the TD Waterhouse service will also provide Irish investors with direct online access to a broad range of international trading exchanges. In total, customers will be able to trade on 18 local and international exchanges from 13 countries across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific. Customers will also benefit from real time FX transactions and reduce the need for costly foreign exchange charges thanks to TD Waterhouse's multi-currency accounts.

The cost to trade in Ireland will include a frequent trader rate of only €15, and a standard trading rate of only €20 per trade; both rates apply on any trade up to a value of €100,000 regardless of international market2. As with the UK service, only 10 or more trades are required per quarter to benefit from the discounted frequent trader rate, TD Waterhouse is confident that its new service will prove to be more competitive than existing online trading services currently operating in Ireland3.

In addition, as an execution-only broker, TD Waterhouse will offer a range of tools and research facilities to help Irish investors, regardless of their level of knowledge or experience. Novice traders can learn about the potential risks and rewards of stock market investment before they begin to trade, while all customers will benefit from the company and markets research data. This is provided in partnership with some of the leading suppliers of high quality data, such as MorningstarTM and Dow Jones.

Angus Rigby continues: "With the arrival of TD Waterhouse, Irish retail investors will benefit from a service that offers direct access to international markets and research at significantly lower costs. In the current economic climate, the scope to take advantage of markets outside of Ireland opens up a vast new range of investment opportunities. Our UK customers have already fully embraced the international markets and use our wide ranging access to their advantage. In fact, approx 12% of our trades by UK customers are in international stocks, and we fully expect our Irish customers to respond with the same enthusiasm.

"Our timing is also opportune given the decline of the property market and the weakness of traditional investment products, pushing investors to adopt alternative investment strategies. There has also been an increased trend of investors returning to equity markets to benefit from volatile trading conditions. Finally, the move into Ireland is also an important step as we look to launch our online equity trading service in other European countries in the future."