Mr. Sorice, 45, comes to Block Alert with over 20 years of industry experience. He spent ten years at ITG in several senior roles, most recently serving as the CEO of ITG's Hoenig division. Prior to joining ITG, Mr. Sorice was at ESI Securities Company where he held several positions, including head of the international trading desk.

"I am very pleased to lead Block Alert and to team with Merrill Lynch and ITG," Sorice said. "Block Alert brings together the best of ITG's POSIT platform and Merrill Lynch's global equity franchise to provide institutional market participants with established liquidity, confidentiality and anonymity."

""We're delighted that Steve is joining Block Alert, and we fully believe that our clients will benefit from his proven abilities as he drives this innovative block trading service," said Rohit D'Souza, global head of equities at Merrill Lynch. "Merrill Lynch continues to actively roll out the Block Alert service to our clients, and we are pleased to provide them with an important avenue for achieving their best execution goals."

"The Block Alert joint venture has significant potential, and we are confident that Steve brings the right combination of industry expertise and leadership to grow the business," said Bob Gasser, ITG's CEO and President.

Block Alert, powered by POSIT, seeks out crossing opportunities in the trade blotters of participating clients. It provides the convenience of negotiated crossing systems, along with broader liquidity and no information leakage. The joint venture was announced on April 3, 2006, and is currently being offered to clients.