Mr. Williams joins Knight from financial services firm Sand Spring Partners LLC.

"With deep knowledge of the foreign exchange market and a track record of success within the industry, I believe Mike has the right background to uncover and pursue growth opportunities for Hotspot," said Thomas M. Joyce, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Knight Capital Group. "We agree on the value of an anonymous ECN model for trading FX, and Mike will use his experience to help Hotspot capitalize on growing demand for electronic foreign exchange trading."

"Today's market participants trade across asset classes in pursuit of the highest returns with the lowest market impact," Mr. Williams said. "I believe Knight's multi-asset class offering is the future of trading, and foreign exchange is the key asset class or 'grease' that makes it work together for the client. I am eager to expand and seamlessly integrate the FX trading platform into Knight."

Through Hotspot FX, Inc., which operates leading spot FX marketplaces, Knight provides clients, banks and broker-dealers access to electronic spot foreign exchange trade execution through advanced ECN platforms.

Biography

Michael E. Williams, 53, Senior Managing Director of Hotspot FX, brings more than 30 years of foreign exchange and fixed income experience to his position at Knight.

Mr. Williams joined Knight in October 2006 from Sand Spring Partners LLC, a financial services firm with product lines that include a currency and hedge fund advisory, cash management, foreign exchange trading and insurance services. Prior to forming Sand Spring Partners, he founded and managed Cover Asset Management, a hedge fund trading foreign exchange. Throughout his career, he has held leadership positions at companies including HSBC, Cantor Fitzgerald, Intercontinental Exchange Partners, M.W. Marshall and Bierbaum A.G. Mr. Williams has also served on the U.S. Federal Reserve Foreign Exchange Committee.