First Marathon entered the Correspondent clearing business in 1990 with the creation of wholly owned Correspondent Network.

Today, NBCN, as part of the National Bank of Canada group of Companies, proudly service more than twice as many independent firms as any of our competitors.

First Marathon developed the Correspondent Network to provide brokerage operations and administrative services to both new and established retail firms, as well as to a variety of professional trading firms, leading non-brokerage financial services companies and financial planners. With over sixty associated organizations entrusting more than $20.0 billion in assets held in over 300,000 active accounts, the Correspondent Network is the leading supplier of correspondent brokerage services to the Canadian financial community. Last year the Correspondent Network processed over 1,200,000 transactions on behalf of our clients.

The breadth of correspondent services which NBCN offers makes it unique in Canada. Membership in the NBCN can produce many advantages, most notably a substantial increase in average profitability for retail brokerage members and more cost-effective access to stock exchanges and investment products from professional trading firms and investment management or financial institutions members.

Besides providing cost-effective and high-quality execution, the NBCN also offers accounting services, office support services and research products, all of which assist both entrepreneurs and the more established companies in building and operating their investment businesses. National Bank Financial's highly respected research is not only made available to Members, but is also further customized to be more accessible to retail investors. Its fixed-income product offerings and services are especially designed to meet the needs of the retail investor, while retaining good income earning potential for the correspondent. In 1996, electronic delivery of equity research, fixed income offerings and many administrative services by means of the Internet was implemented.

The NBCN is a member of the Toronto Stock Exchange and is a member of the Investment Dealer's Association of Canada and the Montreal Exchange through its affiliation with National Bank Financial.