BIDS Trading Connects to BNY ConvergEx’s Dark Desk

NEW YORK, NY – December 3, 2008 – BIDS Trading, the alternative trading system (ATS) designed to increase competition and liquidity in the U.S. equity block trading market, and BNY ConvergEx Group, LLC, a leading provider of global agency brokerage and investment technology solutions, today announced that ConvergEx’s Dark Desk has connected to BIDS Trading’s U.S. equity block trading platform.

Through this agreement, ConvergEx sales traders will now have access to the BIDS ATS when sourcing dark liquidity for their clients through the ConvergEx Dark Desk.

“We are pleased that BIDS Trading is now recognized as a key liquidity provider by the sales traders who leverage the unique capabilities of the ConvergEx Dark Desk,” said Tim Mahoney, Chief Executive Officer of BIDS Trading. “This connection furthers BIDS Trading’s mission to encourage the broadest participation possible on our open, flexible platform. We welcome the addition of ConvergEx’s Dark Desk’s hands-on execution services to our already wide-range of participants.”

Carey S. Pack, Chief Executive Officer, BNY ConvergEx Execution Solutions, stated, “We are extremely pleased to include BIDS ATS as an important liquidity provider on our ConvergEx Dark Desk. We built the Dark Desk to respond to our clients’ need for consultative expertise in navigating increasingly fragmented markets to find the best venues for execution. The BIDS ATS will be a significant addition in helping us deliver the real value our clients are seeking to achieve their investment objectives.”

The ConvergEx Dark Desk is the seventeenth technology provider to access the BIDS ATS.

The BIDS ATS is designed to level the playing field for block trading and to treat all firms equally. In addition to allowing open access to both buy-side and sell-side firms, the BIDS ATS is open to algorithms, hedge funds and program traders. Traders 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.

Volume on the BIDS ATS has reached more than 7.52 billion shares* since its launch in 2007.

Media Contacts

Caroline Bujak, BIDS Trading, L.P.
Email: caroline.bujak@bidstrading.com
Tel: +1.212.618.2097

Margaret Farrell, BNY ConvergEx Group
Email: mfarrell@bnyconvergex.com
Tel: +1.212.468.7708

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 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 ATS resolves the classic paradox of the block trader – the need to find legitimate trading counterparties without prematurely revealing trading intentions. The BIDS 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

About BNY ConvergEx Group

BNY ConvergEx Group, LLC provides global agency brokerage and investment technology solutions to institutional clients worldwide. The Company’s key business lines – Liquidity and Execution Management, Investment Technologies and Intermediary and Clearing Services – focus on a broad array of services designed to deliver a comprehensive, integrated platform of performance-driven, global multi-asset class trading capabilities. BNY ConvergEx Group is comprised of the following businesses: BNY ConvergEx Execution Solutions LLC (member NYSE/FINRA/SIPC), LiquidPoint, LLC (member CBOE/SIPC); Eze Castle Transaction Services LLC (member FINRA/SIPC); Westminster Research Associates LLC (member FINRA/SIPC); G-Trade Services LLC (member FINRA/SIPC); BNY Jaywalk LLC; ConvergEx Global Markets Ltd. and Eze Castle Software LLC. BNY ConvergEx Group is an affiliate of The Bank of New York Mellon.

*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.