Swiss bank goes online

Credit Suisse Group announced plans Friday to launch an online share dealing service, becoming the first Swiss bank to offer direct securities trading via the Internet and by telephone. The system is due to go live on April 12. The bank said its service, called "youtrade," would initially allow trading in all securities listed in Swiss francs on the Swiss bourse, but would be expanded to cover other stock exchanges. Access to other fully electronic exchanges in the U.S. is also planned for 1999, the bank said. Credit Suisse estimated that by 2005, a quarter of private securities transactions on the Zurich exchange would be executed directly online. Youtrade will also be expanded to include additional products traded on the Swiss market such as dollar-denominated securities and eurobonds by the end of this year. Residents of the U.S., Japan and U.K. are barred from using the service.