LavaFX will offer trading in the rouble against the U.S. dollar and the euro. The currency pairs will be available on the Lava platform later this year. The Russian government recently announced a target date of July 1, 2006 for the rouble to be fully convertible, allowing for global spot trading in the currency.

"We are very pleased to play a role in bringing spot trading in the Russian rouble to the global marketplace," said David Ogg, CEO, LavaFX. "We look forward to working with ACI Russia and the country's leading financial institutions to make around-the-clock trading in this currency a reality."

The Russian foreign exchange market has experienced considerable growth in recent years. According to ACI Russia, 2005 saw a 40 percent year-over-year increase in trading volume, with average daily and annual turnover of $30 billion and $7.3 trillion, respectively.

"The beginning of rouble trading abroad is an important step towards the rouble as a hard currency and a world reserve currency," said Igor Souzdaltsev, President, ACI Russia.

"I believe the introduction of the Russian rouble on LavaFX will lead to the strengthening of our national currency and the strong development of Russian financial markets," commented Evgeny Egerov, Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board at Investsberbank in Moscow.

Later this year, Lava will launch a revolutionary interbank FX trading platform. This new offering will provide the interbank community with an impressive array of sophisticated order types, full depth of book and superior functionality for electronic foreign exchange trading. Most notably, it will provide a feature never before available to the FX market, which will allow banks to shift large positions quickly and quietly among themselves within a "blind" system.