Record Trading In July 2002 For virt-x

virt-x plc, the operator of the virt-x pan-European cross border exchange, announced today that it processed over 1 million trades with a value of EUR 65.6 billion during July 2002.

This is the highest level of monthly trading on virt-x to date, in respect to both the number of trades processed and their value.

Highlights

• total turnover up 23.7% to € 65.6 billion [July 2001; € 53 billion]
• total number of trades up 111% to 1,056,783 million [July 2001; 500,555]
• 98% of all trades executed on the order book (80.5% by value)
• 99.5% of transaction settled on time

Commenting on the increased trading levels, Antoinette Hunziker-Ebneter, CEO of virt-x plc, said: "I am delighted that we have begun our second year of operation with record trading turnover for the month of July."

"During July, we processed between 40,000 and 70,000 order book trades per day, demonstrating the robust performance of our trading platform and the efficiency of our straight through business model. Our unique model will be further strengthened in 2003 with the introduction of the pan-European CCP."