— Alternative Trading System Executes More Than 4 Billion Shares

BIDS Trading Commemorates its First Year of Trading

NEW YORK, NY – April 29, 2008 – BIDS Trading, the alternative trading system (ATS) designed to increase competition in the U.S. equity block trading market, marks its first year of trading this month on its open, flexible platform. BIDS Trading has achieved several milestones in both connectivity and volume over the course of the year. In twelve months, over 4 billion shares* have been traded, with average daily volume topping 22.6 million shares* in March 2008. Beyond the number of shares that were executed on the platform, BIDS Trading has connected to 14 order management systems (OMSs) and execution management systems (EMSs), and has advanced plans to launch its joint venture with the NYSE Euronext.

"We have surpassed our own expectations during our first year of operation, and we are very encouraged with the growing number of clients who continue to support BIDS Trading as an efficient platform for anonymously trading blocks of equities," states Tim Mahoney, Chief Executive Officer of BIDS Trading. "In our second year, we intend to further concentrate our efforts on continuing to connect to the buy-side, in order to provide an open, low-cost platform that includes both the buy-side and sell-side."

BIDS Holdings, the parent company of BIDS Trading, continues to develop its joint venture with the NYSE Euronext, which is scheduled to launch in the summer of 2008 (subject to SEC approval). The joint venture, which will be open to all NYSE members and BIDS Trading users, plans to bring together displayed, non-displayed, and reserve liquidity in an effort to address market fragmentation from a viewpoint that includes both asset managers and investment banks.

Another major accomplishment during BIDS Trading’s first year of operation has been its connection to 14 OMSs and EMSs, including: Bloomberg’s EMS and SSEOMS, BNY ConvergEx Group’s Eze Castle OMS, Citi’s OpenPort and Lava Technology, Fidessa LatentZero’s Minerva OEMS, FlexTrade Systems’ FlexTRADER, ITG’s Macgregor XIP Order Management System, Linedata Services’ LongView Trading, Goldman Sachs’ REDIPlus, JPMorgan’s Neovest, Morgan Stanley’s Passport, Portware, and UBS Pinpoint. BIDS Trading plans to connect to additional OMSs and EMSs throughout the remainder of 2008. These links will increase market participation on BIDS Trading and further develop an already deep liquidity pool.

The BIDS Trading ATS is accessible to both buy-side and sell-side firms that want to trade blocks through continuous order matching and trade negotiation. It allows traders the ability 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 filter 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.