OREANDA-NEWS. On 10 June 2008 the MICEX Group (“MICEX”), which integrates trading and settlement systems for Russia’s financial markets, announced that it has been appointed as an exclusive trading systems software provider to PFTS Stock Exchange (“PFTS”), Ukraine’s leading trading floor. The appointment follows the international tender held by PFTS in March 2008.

MICEX will set up the PFTS’s informational and technological platform, replicating the platform currently used for trading on the MICEX’s own exchange-based markets – the Automated Securities Trading System (“ASTS”).

Implementation of the project will be carried out by MICEX, in collaboration with NASDAQ OMX, the Swedish-American holding company that holds the rights on ASTS’s software. MICEX has been granted exclusive rights to implement ASTS software in Ukraine. The new trading system is expected to be launched on PFTS within seven months after the terms of engagement are finalised.

Alexander Potemkin, MICEX President, commented on the appointment: “This project will significantly improve the reliability of PFTS’s trading system. It will also enhance trading participants’ access to new trading modes and internet trading systems. The new trading system will be an important step in attracting new investment to the Ukrainian stock market and promoting the integration of Ukraine into the global financial system.”

Irina Zarya, PFTS President, said: “The new system will support trading in the wide range of financial instruments available on the PFTS, as well as the Exchange’s order-driven and the quote-driven markets and clearing. It will also support the link with brokerage systems and the depository for internet trading.

“Our trading volumes have more than doubled since the beginning of the year, and we require any newly implemented technological systems to be able to cope with our continuously growing trading volumes. We are excited to implement this new system which will enable us to process over 700,000 orders and to close over 400,000 transactions during one trading session.”