— Strong Industry Support Helps Block Trading Platform Reach Milestone

Daily Volume on BIDS Trading Surpasses 20 Million Shares

New York, NY – July 16, 2007 – BIDS Trading, the newly formed alternative trading system (ATS) designed to increase competition and liquidity in the U.S. equity block trading market, executed more than 20 million shares* in daily volume twice last week. The BIDS Trading ATS is a block crossing venue, which provides traders with an anonymous liquidity source.

BIDS Trading launched its block trading platform in the spring of 2007. “This is a significant milestone for us, and one that we are pleased to reach in such a short amount of time,” said Tim Mahoney, Chief Executive Officer of BIDS Trading. “With overwhelming industry support right out of the gate, we are optimistic that BIDS Trading will resolve current market inefficiencies impeding block trading and create the deepest liquidity pool possible.”

BIDS Trading is a consortium formed by twelve brokerage firms, including Bank of America, Bear Stearns, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Knight Capital Group, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS. Their support has played a pivotal role in the ongoing development of this innovative trading platform – helping to create a deep pool of liquidity, while still allowing for trading anonymity.

Using the BIDS Trading ATS, market participants can trade large blocks of equities without revealing their order. Information disclosure is controlled by the trader via various customizable trading tools: 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 even filter out counterparties based on past trading behavior.

In an effort to level the playing field and deliver liquidity to all market participants, the BIDS Trading ATS is open to sell-side firms and their sponsored buy-side clients, algorithms, hedge funds, and program traders.

BIDS Trading is accessible to all qualifying broker-dealers and their institutional clients, subject to basic credit and regulatory considerations. Use of the BIDS Trading ATS as a block trading service is not exclusive or subject to volume commitments and each participant may continue to use any ATS, ECN or exchange service that supports the trading needs of its customer base.

About BIDS Trading, L.P.

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.

BIDS Trading is a joint venture of: Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC), Citi (NYSE: C), Credit Suisse Group (NYSE: CS), Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB), The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), Knight Capital Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NITE), Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH), Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), and UBS (NYSE: UBS). The BIDS Trading ATS will be 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 both sides of the transaction.