RBC Capital Markets completes acquisition of Carlin Financial Group

Renamed RBC Carlin, new unit introduces additional modules, including Options Pro, to its DMA platform

NEW YORK, January 3, 2007 — RBC Capital Markets announced today that it has completed its acquisition of New York-based Carlin Financial Group, a broker-dealer known for its proprietary trade execution platform that is extremely popular with emerging hedge fund managers, professional traders and financial institutions. With the acquisition, RBC will average 3.5 billion shares in monthly trading volume, ranking it in the top 10 in the U.S.

The new division, renamed RBC Carlin, also announced today the launch of its state of the art, customizable options trading module, Options Pro, thus entering the field of top tier multi-asset DMA (direct market access) trading platforms.

Options Pro, part of a suite of solutions that RBC Carlin is offering to clients under its new RBC Accel system, represents the first in a series of scheduled module releases and feature enhancements to the system, with proprietary algorithms soon to follow. As a result of the merger, the firm also expects to gain further access to the Canadian market, strengthening its position as one of the premier North American front end trading systems.

“RBC Capital Markets has been very aggressive in building a complete product and service platform to better serve our clients,” said Greg Mills, RBC Capital Markets’ head of global equity sales and trading. “The creation of the RBC Carlin business division, with its advanced technology platform, is a clear illustration of our commitment to delivering a full suite of products to our clients.”

RBC Accel is a comprehensive portfolio trading system that features highly sophisticated solutions, including automated risk management. Trading more than 30 million shares daily, RBC Accel is among the industry’s fastest execution platforms.

“The future of DMA lies in the ability to respond to and anticipate traders’ growing needs to execute orders across multiple asset classes and hybrid instruments,” said Jeremy Frommer, president of RBC Carlin. “With the completion of the merger, we are now able to offer a wide array of clients a trading platform that is truly one of the best in class.”

RBC Capital Markets’ acquisition of Carlin Financial Group is the latest in a series of deals completed by the firm as it continues to build its presence in the United States and globally. In terms of assets as of October 31, RBC is the sixth-largest bank in North America.

About RBC Carlin
RBC Carlin is a newly formed division resulting from the acquisition of Carlin Financial Group by RBC Capital Markets, a member of the NYSE and NASD. Serving institutions, emerging managers, and sophisticated traders, RBC Carlin provides a full suite of scalable financial products, services and cutting trading edge technology. For more information, please visit www.rbccarlin.com.

About RBC Capital Markets
RBC Capital Markets is the corporate and investment banking arm of RBC and is active globally in debt origination, sales and trading, foreign exchange, infrastructure finance, structured products, metals and mining, and energy. Its North American equity underwriting, sales, trading and research business dominates the Canadian market and supports a significant and growing franchise in the US middle market.

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Kevin Foster

RBC Capital Markets

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