"The Bank of New York Mellon Launches Liquidity DIRECT" says a press release. "The Bank of New York Mellon today announced the launch of Liquidity DIRECT, an innovative money market investment portal that can help institutional investors maximize liquidity and mitigate counterparty risk in an uncertain credit environment," it says. "Liquidity DIRECT unites MoneyFunds DIRECT and Liquidity Management Services, the institutional liquidity platforms offered by heritage Bank of New York and Mellon Financial Markets, LLC." The platform consists of MoneyFunds DIRECT, which "offers a wide range of money market funds," Securities DIRECT, "which provides access ... to a wide range of individual money market securities, including commercial paper, U.S. treasuries, discount notes and certificates of deposit," and `Margin DIRECT, which "provides safekeeping for posted margin balances." "`Clients have always been focused on liquidity, cash flow and their short-term investment needs, but liquidity and investment uncertainties have become critical concerns in these challenging economic times," said Jonathan Spirgel, adding "Institutional investors need access to resources that measure up to prevailing market conditions, and Liquidity DIRECT can serve as a single, complete solution for money market investments, margin positioning and account data."