PRESS RELEASES

PRAGUE, September 21 - Wood & Company, a leading Czech brokerage, reports a strong increase in volumes of trades closed via electronic or Direct Market Access (DMA) trading systems, which allows investors to trade directly on stock exchanges in Central and Eastern Europe (Prague, Warsaw and Budapest).

The DMA platform, launched first in the region by Wood & Company in the middle of last year, gives foreign investors a chance to better monitor their orders and react more quickly to breaking news. They also avoid transaction risks relating to the in individual countries they invest in. Electronic trading has become extremely popular on the U.S. and Asian markets, and take-up in Western Europe is rapid. The volume of electronic equity trades globally is expected to have doubled over the last year. At Wood & Company, the share of electronic trades, including DMA, of total trading volumes jumped from 10% to 30% between January and June of this year.

By implementing this platform, we have attracted a new type of investor who likes the fundamentals of our region but prefers straight-through processing of trading orders, said Wood & Company partner and Director of Equities, Andrea Ferancova. In one or two years, Central and Eastern Europe may match the electronic trading levels seen in Western Europe.

She added that, two years ago, Wood & Company spotted this significant trend in Western Europe and decided to invest heavily to become a DMA leader in the region. This has proven to be a good bet as we see a lot of new investors using the technology, Ferancova said.

The introduction of advanced tools, and the changing market structure, are driving the trading behavior of buy-side firms in all geographic regions. Both the buy and sell side are taking more control of trading decisions while looking for faster, cheaper, and anonymous executions. Hedge funds are among the most aggressive users of DMA, reducing calls to their brokers.

The order flow via phone is expected to drop from 46% in 2005 to 33% worldwide in 2007, and to be replaced by various methods of electronic trading. In Central and Eastern Europe, the shift is expected to be even faster from almost zero in 2005 to at least 50% in 2007, Wood & Companys Andrea Fernacova estimates.

Wood & Company is one of the leading market makers in Prague and will soon serve as a market maker in Warsaw, the regions biggest stock market. It has been mandated by the Czech power company CEZ to introduce its shares on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in a move that is expected to further boost trading volumes in the region.

Trading activity has substantially picked up in European Emerging Markets, and regularly exceeds $400 million in total across Prague, Warsaw and Budapest each day.

Contact:
Andrea Ferancova
Wood & Company
Director of Equities
+420 222 096 243
andrea.ferancovawood.cz