Amstel Securities NV was founded in 1989 and has all through its life steadfastly held on to its two guiding principles: it trades strictly on an agency basis and it only trades with professional, institutional investors. It has also always been management-owned and avoided conflicts of interest by not engaging in proprietary trading, investment banking activities and activities like that. Amstel started out as an equity and equity-derivatives specialist for the Far Eastern markets and is as such well known among European institutional investors. In the last six years, it has grown strongly into a global operation with nine offices in all major time zones, employing just over 100 people. Amstel prides itself on employing a dedicated and experienced sales staff that knows that long-term client relationships can only be build by providing a quality service. Amstel covers a very wide product range, from equities and equity derivatives to energy derivatives, high yield and distressed bonds and money markets, swaps, forex and forwards. All of its business it settled on a DVP-basis through its settlement agents Deutsche Bank AG, Kas Bank NV or Pershing LLC.