— 45 Million Shares* Traded per Day – up 126% over Same Month Last Year

BIDS Trading Announces Record Trading Volumes for April

NEW YORK, NY – May 3, 2010 – BIDS Trading, the alternative trading system (ATS) designed to increase liquidity in the U.S. equity block trading market, announced record levels of liquidity for the month of April 2010.

BIDS Trading posted a record month for April, with average daily volumes of 45 million shares*, 126% higher than the same month last year, and an increase in 78% over the previous month of March.

BIDS Trading has been attracting buy-side traders via BIDS Trader, its front-end software that provides direct access to the platform. BIDS Trader gives buy-side traders direct access to unique block liquidity not available in other dark pools – sell-side algorithmic order flow, aggregated in BIDS as blocks. This creates the opportunity for interactions between large orders, resulting in block-sized executions.

“BIDS Trader drastically improves the trading experience within BIDS,” said Tim Mahoney, CEO of BIDS Trading. “It shifts the power to the buy-side trader, providing him with the tools he needs to meet his individual trading goals and objectives. Going forward, we are focused on broadly distributing BIDS Trader, and addressing the evolving needs of today’s institutional investor.”

Another key differentiator is BIDS Trading’s sponsored access model. This means that the buy-side trades within BIDS, but directs 100% of their commission dollars to the broker(s) of choice.

Media Contact

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

About BIDS Trading, L.P.

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, BIDS Trading 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.

*Figures include all volume traded on the BIDS ATS and NYBX.

NYBX volume is single counted. BIDS ATS volume is double counted to include both sides of the transaction.