"It has always been a priority for AutEx to provide clients with the opportunity to access increased order flow, and so we re-affirm that commitment by providing Harborside+ as another destination for their IOI messages," said Robert Moitoso, senior vice president, Global Transaction Services, Thomson Financial.

AutEx IOIs with a contra side in Harborside+ trigger a negotiation process that starts with a confidential phone call to the potential buyer and seller from the Harborside+ trading desk. "We welcome indications from AutEx clients and the opportunity to demonstrate our success in completing large block trades without market impact," said Harborside+ President & CEO, Michael Cashel.

Thomson AutEx is the industry's leading online real time network and database for block order indications and trade advertisements. The AutEx community consists of traders at international and domestic institutions, broker dealers, exchanges, ECNs and ATSs, either connecting directly to AutEx, or through service bureaus or order management systems. Over 800 of the world's leading brokers and institutions rely on AutEx to access global pools of liquidity, and every day, more than 800,000 messages are transmitted between buyers and sellers.

Harborside+'s hybrid approach of technology and human intervention has proven successful for trading large blocks, especially when negotiating for larger sizes and accommodating conditional requirements. Harborside+ pre-qualifies buyers and sellers of size to minimize market impact and maximize trade size. IOIs start at a 25,000-share minimum (the service is averaging 72,000 shares per trade). Traders submitting IOIs to the Harborside+ confidential matching engine indicate side (buy or sell), symbol and price. IOIs can be accepted by Harborside+ through a variety of channels such as integration with a firm's order management system or via a FIX connection.

When the system locates a potential match, the Harborside+ member database contributes unique customer provided information that increases the fluidity of the negotiation process. Harborside+'s trading desk then assists counterparties in finalizing the transaction through private, phone-based communication that keeps identities confidential. Trades are executed by Harborside Securities, a totally independent registered broker-dealer.