BIDS Trading Appoints Vivian Maese as General Counsel

NEW YORK, NY – August 12, 2008 – BIDS Trading, the alternative trading system (ATS) designed to increase competition and liquidity in the U.S. equity block trading market, has named industry veteran Vivian A. Maese as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary. Vivian will provide strategic leadership and legal counsel for the firm and its board of directors.

“As BIDS Trading continues to expand and evolve as a block trading platform, Vivian’s expertise and guidance will play a central role,” said Tim Mahoney, Chief Executive Officer of BIDS Trading. “Her experience working in the heart of Wall Street on a variety of market structure issues, coupled with her deep understanding of technology, intellectual property and financial regulation, will prove integral as we work toward achieving our goals.”

Prior to joining BIDS Trading, Vivian served as Senior Vice President and Associate General Counsel at the NYSE Euronext. Appointed by the President (now CEO), Duncan Niederauer, she led the legal team that was responsible for modernizing NYSE market structure, supported the U.S. trading business lines and handled technology legal issues, strategic technology acquisitions and intellectual property protections.

Before the NYSE Euronext, Vivian spent more than twenty years as an industry-leading attorney, and Managing Director at Citi providing expertise in intellectual property and technology. Vivian also served as General Counsel for Citi’s Global Transaction Services Division, a $4 billion business line that provides cash, trade, securities services and fund administration services for corporate clients in over 100 countries. Vivian graduated from Brooklyn Law School and Hunter College.

“BIDS Trading is developing very innovative trading technologies, and I am fortunate to have the opportunity to help the company to grow. The joint venture with the NYSE Euronext is a good example of our strategy in action,” said Vivian. “I look forward to providing advice and guidance as the firm continues to deliver on its promise of offering dark liquidity in the block trading market for both the buy- and sell-side.”

Volume on the BIDS Trading ATS has reached more than 5.8 billion shares* since its launch in 2007, with average daily volumes reaching 24.65 million shares* in July 2008.

The BIDS Trading ATS is accessible to both buy-side and sell-side firms that want to trade large blocks through continuous order matching and trade negotiation. Use of the BIDS ATS as a block trading service is not exclusive or subject to volume commitment and each participant may continue to use any ATS, ECN or exchange service that supports the trading needs of its customer base.

The BIDS Trading ATS allows traders to control their level of information disclosure. Market participants can choose to auto-execute their order or negotiate; they can set their minimum block size to help protect their order; and they can even filter out counterparties based on past trading behavior.

Media Contacts

Caroline Bujak, BIDS Trading, L.P.
Email: caroline.bujak@bidstrading.com

Tel: +1.212.618.2097

Stephanie DiIorio, Intermarket Communications
Email: sdiiorio@intermarket.com
Tel: +1.212.754.5181

About BIDS Trading

BIDS Trading, L.P. is a registered broker-dealer and the operator of the BIDS Trading Alternative Trading System (ATS), which was designed to bring counterparties together to anonymously trade large blocks of shares. Developed by a consortium of leading financial services firms, the BIDS Trading ATS resolves the classic paradox of the block trader – the need to find legitimate trading counterparties without prematurely revealing trading intentions. The BIDS Trading ATS is open to all qualifying broker-dealers and their institutional clients, subject to basic credit and regulatory requirements. For more information, visit www.bidstrading.com

*Figures are double-counted, to include all volume traded on the BIDS Trading ATS (i.e., both sides of the transaction).

BIDS Trading and the BIDS Trading mark are protected in the United States and in countries throughout the world.