ITG BUYS OUT MERRILL LYNCH SHARE OF BLOCKALERT, TO REBRAND AS POSIT ALERT

Posted July 31, 2008

NEW YORK – Trading technology provider Investment Technology Group Inc. (NYSE: ITG) plans to purchase Merrill Lynch’s stake to become full owner of the BLOCKalert block trade crossing service, and will re-brand the service as POSIT Alert to merge it into ITG’s POSIT crossing suite.

“ITG’s neutral agency broker status and trusted POSIT crossing suite have long been key differentiators for the firm,” says Bob Gasser, Chief Executive Officer and President of ITG. “After a thorough evaluation of our global POSIT crossing suite, we felt that clients would benefit most if ITG focused on enhancing the system with direct buy-side to buy-side liquidity.”

BLOCKalert averaged 10.4 million shares a day in the first half of 2008, with an average execution size of 41,000 shares. “Merrill Lynch’s joint venture with ITG was a positive experience for both firms and we look forward to continuing our relationship with ITG,” says Michael Stewart, Managing Director and Head of Global Cash Equities at Merrill Lynch.