Digitalbox Regulatory News (DBOX)

17 Oct 2005 07:30

PLUS Markets Group PLC17 October 2005 PLUS MARKETS GROUP PLC Further details of its new trading service Today, 17th October 2005, PLUS Markets Group plc ("the Company") announcesdetails of its new equity trading service for both listed and unlistedsecurities. This has been developed in response to demand from leadingfinancial institutions and brokers. The Company intends to broaden markedly itsexisting trading services to encompass an extended range of securities. Many ofthose requiring this service are the private client stockbroker members ofAPCIMS, who have long sought a trading system tailored to the needs of theirclients. Initially, the new trading service will trade a selection of smaller companiesadmitted to the Official List, which do not benefit from an exclusivelyquote-driven market. It is anticipated that the service will be operational byearly New Year at the latest. The new trading service will have a distinct identity. It will be known as "thePLUS service" and will trade certain listed and unlisted securities withexisting quotations elsewhere in London. The Company has been working andcontinues to work in close co-operation with the Financial Services Authority ("FSA") to achieve this. The PLUS service will offer an independent price discovery and trade reportingmechanism. It will provide choice and flexibility to brokers for whom aquote-driven system is best suited. The Company believes that its system couldoffer, also, an appropriate mechanism for Retail Service Providers ("RSPs") tooperate efficiently after the introduction of the Markets in FinancialInstruments Directive ("MiFID"). Notably, there will not be any trade reporting fees in respect of securitiestraded on the PLUS service. The PLUS service will have a distinct identity from the Company's existingmarket offering. It will be operated under the existing legal and regulatoryauspices of Ofex. Trading on the PLUS service will be subject to real-timesupervision and will come within the protection of the market abuse regime.Investors in such securities will continue to benefit from any existing taxationbenefits. Securities traded on the PLUS service will benefit also from existingstamp duty relief for intermediaries. To ensure proper transparency for market users, leading data vendors will carryinformation about trading in securities traded upon the PLUS service. Over recent months, the Company has been investing heavily in upgrading itstrading platform and recruiting appropriate technical staff to give it thecapacity to trade substantially higher volumes. Whilst the Company re-iteratesthat this investment will impact significantly its second half results, itraised the additional £2.5m last month specifically to finance the developmentand operation of the PLUS service. The Company believes that the PLUS service will offer an attractive platform andshould both increase competition and reduce the costs of transactions in theLondon equity markets. Enquiries: Pam Spooner, Conduit PR 020 7618 8760 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange