Pure Trading Schedule

TORONTO, March 8,2007 - After the industry test on February 24th, the Pure Trading team advised that it would be back to the industry with a revised schedule leading up to the launch of its continuous auction market. Following on the successful industry weekend tests on January 13th and February 3rd, as well as the ongoing vigorous daily individual dealer and vendor testing routines that have been underway over the last 6 months, any remaining issues are being addressed. In addition, the retransmission issues that led to the problems experienced by dealers and access vendors on February 24th have been identified with a remediation plan put in place. Finally, a majority of the key industry participants have been consulted with an eye to developing a timeline that will match their needs for finalizing any related implementation work and Pure Trading can now announce the following schedule:

• During the remainder of March, Pure Trading will be testing with the principal vendors to verify that the issues have been satisfactorily addressed and to ensure that system changes designed to address load-related issues have been correctly implemented.

• The month of April will be used for two principal activities: access vendors and dealers with direct access to the Pure Trading system will be in a position to conduct their final acceptance and regression testing for all issues; and, Pure Trading will make its system available (with reasonable prior notice) for customers to conduct individual load tests on evenings and weekends.

• Saturday, May 5th, has been reserved with the TSX for another industry-wide test. The testing activities during the remainder of March and the entire month of April will give a high degree of assurance that all interested parties will be able to complete a successful day of testing.

• After the May 5th test, Pure Trading will confirm a launch date, following an assessment with the community of the relative readiness of Pure Trading’s dealers and their supporting vendors. It is anticipated that, given the extensive testing window available in advance of the industry-wide May 5th test, the launch date will be set for shortly thereafter. As previously announced, Pure Trading will initially provide continuous auction market services for 3 Canadian-listed stocks for a short period of time following the launch. The identity of the 3 stocks will be announced well in advance.

In the meantime, Pure Trading’s Gateway Test Environment is available from Sunday through Friday, 7 am to 10 pm, for functional testing, and the production trading engine continues to support the provision of free crossing services for the Pure Trading dealers. Dealers are encouraged to take advantage of both opportunities to ensure their readiness for the launch of Canada’s first alternative electronic continuous auction market.

Contact:
Lida Preyma
Business Development & Marketing
Pure Trading
(416) 572-2000 x2285
[email protected]

www.puretrading.ca