HONG KONG and NEW YORK, Dec. 11, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ITG (NYSE: ITG), a leading independent execution and research broker, today announced that the award-winning POSIT^® crossing network, including the POSIT Marketplace^TM dark aggregation algorithm and the POSIT Alert^® block crossing platform, are now available for trading Malaysian equities.

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Following on from the growth of POSIT Marketplace in Asia Pacific over the past two and a half years and the launch of POSIT Alert in the region earlier this year, the addition of Malaysia expands the breadth of ITG's global liquidity sourcing capabilities.

"Institutional demand for quality liquidity in Asia is on the rise, particularly in emerging and growth markets," said ITG's Ofir Gefen, head of Asia Pacific Electronic Brokerage and Analytics. "Effective bid-ask spreads in Malaysia are consistently wide, between 40 and 200 basis points, and finding liquidity in size can be an ongoing challenge. POSIT Marketplace and POSIT Alert offer mid-point crossing and the ability to find block liquidity when trading Malaysian stocks, which can help deliver price improvement and more efficient trading for institutional investors."

POSIT's extensive global coverage includes Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and now Malaysia, as well as 21 EMEA countries, the U.S. and Canada.  So far in 2012, POSIT Marketplace is delivering average price improvement of 11 basis points on trading in Asia Pacific.  With the launch in Malaysia, expansion to new markets continues to be a focus for ITG as part of the ongoing commitment to providing quality global liquidity and improving investment performance for its institutional clients.  ITG was recognized recently as Best Agency Broker by AsianInvestor and won the award for Consistent Execution Quality at The Trade Asia 2012 algorithmic trading awards recently in Hong Kong. 

For more information about accessing POSIT and ITG's full suite of global liquidity management capabilities, please contact info@itg.com.

About ITG

ITG is an independent execution and research broker that partners with global portfolio managers and traders to provide unique data-driven insights throughout the investment process. From investment decision through settlement, ITG helps clients understand market trends, improve performance, mitigate risk and navigate increasingly complex markets. ITG is headquartered in New York with offices in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. For more information, please visit www.itg.com.

SOURCE ITG