TradeWeb Reports Record Volume in 2nd Quarter

-- More than $6.3 Trillion Traded Electronically - Up 32% over same period last year-- 

TradeWeb Corporates Also Building Strong Momentum 

JERSEY CITY/LONDON (July 8, 2004) - TradeWeb, the leading network of online fixed-income markets, today announced record volumes for the second quarter of 2004. Investors traded a record $6.3 trillion in fixed-income securities on TradeWeb's global platform, up 32% from the same period last year and a 17% increase on the first quarter of 2004. This significant growth was led by a global surge in online trading in both U.S. Treasuries and TBA-MBS. Quarterly volume for each of these online markets rose nearly 45% from same quarter last year.

TradeWeb's business growth has been driven by very active fixed-income markets and deepening commitment to online trading and straight-through processing by major institutional investors and dealers. Investors now turn to TradeWeb for their most important trading in all types of market conditions. Transacting business online allows them to achieve best quality execution in both speed and price and to lower costs through highly efficient electronic trade processing. TradeWeb's combination of highly accurate market data, access to deep dealer liquidity, efficient price discovery, fast execution, and seamless straight-through processing has become highly valued by fixed-income market participants. TradeWeb's daily average volume now exceeds $100 billion.

During the 2nd quarter, TradeWeb achieved another major milestone with the launch of TradeWeb Corporates for the U.S. credit markets. This new online corporate bond market has experienced remarkable growth in its first month. It now has more than 100 major institutional investors and seven major dealers on the platform with a number of liquidity providers about to join. Momentum is building because this advanced online corporate bond platform is the first to integrate NASD TRACE information into the trading workflow, the first to let investors buy and sell baskets of corporate bonds simultaneously, and the only to provide real straight-through processing for both the buy-side and sell-side. With TradeWeb Corporates the credit markets have moved one step ahead.

"There is no question that electronic trading for fixed-income has become a core element of institutional trading and that TradeWeb is leading this significant market evolution," said Jim Toffey, CEO of TradeWeb. "We expect the trend toward more online activity to accelerate especially in corporate bonds, as the market adopts our recently launched corporate bond platform."

Lee Olesky, President of TradeWeb added: "TradeWeb continues to flourish in Europe - not only with our strong growth in trading volumes but also the growth in the number of buy- and sell-side customers that are now a part of the TradeWeb network. Total volume of all products traded with European customers is up 38% for the quarter, year-on-year. At the same time, TradeWeb continues to be at the forefront of innovation with enhancements to its pre-trade, execution and post-trade functionality."

Growth spans multiple product sectors.

Key highlights:

U.S. Treasury and Agency Debt: Growing customer acceptance and rising market share boosted TradeWeb U.S. Treasury and Agency trading volumes to a combined $2.2 trillion - a new record.

TBA-MBS: Volume in TradeWeb TBA-MBS continued to soar exceeding $2 trillion, up 43% from the same period last year. TradeWeb TBA-MBS volume now represents about a third of TradeWeb's global volume.

Money Markets: TradeWeb Money Markets volume increased over the last quarter with help from a record quarter in ADN's of $350 billion. CP volume increased over the first quarter to $1.3 trillion.

European Government Bonds: TradeWeb European Government bonds trading volume experienced significant growth reaching $336 billion this quarter - a 30% increase over the same period the previous year. UK Gilts continue from strength-to-strength with an increase in volume of 47% in the last month alone.

Other European Products: Volume in TradeWeb European Commercial Paper increased by 257%, to $41.8 billion, in the second quarter, compared with the same period in 2003. Pfandbriefe/Covered Bonds also experienced tremendous growth, with volumes for the quarter up 258% on the same period in 2003.

About TradeWeb

TradeWeb is the leading online fixed-income trading network with over 5 million trades executed and total volume of nearly $50 trillion since its inception in 1998. TradeWeb's multi-dealer auction model links 27 of the world's leading dealers of fixed-income securities with more than 1,500 buy-side institutions in North America and Europe.

The company is also the leading electronic "straight-through processing" network for the fixed-income markets, providing dealers and buy-side institutions with paperless trade allocations and confirmations on its fully integrated TradeXpressSM network. TradeWeb's STP network also includes AccountNet, the leading standard settlement instructions database.

For more information about TradeWeb products and services, please visit the company's website at www.tradeweb.com or contact Jack Mahoney at (201) 536-5878.

About Thomson Financial

TradeWeb is an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of the Thomson Corporation (NYSE:TOC) and operates within the Thomson Financial market group. Thomson Financial is a US$1.5 billion provider of information and technology solutions to the worldwide financial community. Through the widest range of products and services in the industry, Thomson Financial helps clients in more than 70 countries make better decisions, be more productive and achieve superior results. Thomson Financial is part of The Thomson Corporation (www.thomson.com), a leading provider of value-added information, software tools and applications to more than 20 million users in the fields of law, tax, accounting, financial services, higher education, reference information, corporate training and assessment, scientific research and healthcare. With revenues from continuing operations of US$7.6 billion, The Thomson Corporation lists its common shares on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC).