The alliance will allow secure keys issued by Identrus participating institutions to be valid within the bolero.net online global trade system. Currently, Identrus and bolero.net have more than 35 member financial institutions in Asia, Australia, Europe, North and South America.

The agreement between the two communities has been made possible through bolero.net's newly announced multiple certification authority (MultiCA) capability, designed to allow competing key issuing organisations around the world to offer to their subscribers access to bolero.net services. The bolero.net ŒMultiCA approach now offers the opportunity for secure keys issued by national customs authorities and chambers of commerce the ability to quickly gain access to the bolero.net world trade community.

"The Identrus mission is to foster B2B e-commerce through assurance of the identity of online trading partners," says Identrus president and CEO Guy Tallent. "This alliance will allow Identrus users to take advantage of the trade capabilities of the bolero.net system, which is of critical importance to our financial institutions and their customers."

Bolero.net commercial director, Peter Scott, comments: "This news benefits anyone involved in cross-border trade. Identrus and bolero.net are both committed to providing global e-business solutions and solving the legal and security issues that have previously existed when conducting international trade over the Internet. This announcement means that our respective programmes and initiatives will be complementary, thereby avoiding any duplication of effort and investment by our common shareholders."

He expects the initiative to accelerate the co-operation between the bolero.net Bank Working Group, which released the bolero Standard Settlement Protocols for secure settlement and fulfillment on the Internet in September; and the Identrus Eleanor Group, a consortium of Identrus members that is looking into ways of delivering trusted payment services to facilitate electronic commerce on the Internet.