Quamnet.com, which has a registered user base in excess of 400,000, provides online personal investment and portfolio management tools to individual investors, including online advice and opinions from some of Hong Kong's financial experts. The company has also initiated coverage of mainland China companies and can provide earnings estimates for all Asian-listed companies in Asia and the US in collaboration with various information providers. Quamnet has landed several awards for its content, including AsiaWeek's "Best Asian Personal Finance Site," Media.com's "Best Asian Portal Home Page" and "Best Financial and Professional Services Site." APC Securities is a brokerage and corporate finance house operating in Hong Kong and other Asian markets.

Laidlaw Global Corporation is the parent company of Global Electronic Exchange, which operates globeshare.com, a 24-hour online trading platform. With a single Globeshare.com trading account, investors can execute stock transactions in real time in global markets, evaluate original local research, chat at any time with a live broker and receive quotes, economic news and earnings estimates. Globeshare.com provides full access to US markets to its brokerage alliance members and their institutional and individual clients through a system presently operating in English and is expected to provide those services in local languages and currencies as soon as regulatory frameworks permit.

Of the proposed cooperation between Laidlaw, Quamnet and APC, the New York-based company said in a statement: 'Laidlaw views this alliance as deeply synergistic with the ongoing expansion and development of its Globeshare network and other investment banking and money management operations. Through its wholly-owned Hong Kong subsidiary, Laidlaw Pacific, and the alliance under discussion with Quamnet and APC Securities, the company intends to emphasize its activities in various Asian markets and in greater China, areas expected to continue increasing in importance for portfolio managers and individual investors worldwide.'