"ConvergEx has always been committed to building the most innovative technologies and offering products that are the first of their kind," said Joseph M. Velli, chairman and chief executive officer of ConvergEx Group. "This patent is another great achievement for our firm."

The patent covers proprietary technology for the electronic trading of equities and converting ADRs that is found in ConvergEx's ADR Direct, Reverse ADRSM and ADR PlusSM products.

"Our ADR product suite offers clients a unique solution to easily and automatically convert ordinary shares to ADRs and ADRs to ordinary shares in real-time. They extend trading hours, minimize market impact, reduce trading costs and offer transparency," said Andrew Levine, managing director and head of ConvergEx's ADR business. "These products are available to all clients who can choose to access the tools directly on their desktops or through ConvergEx's ADR Desk."

ConvergEx's comprehensive ADR product offering includes:
• ADR Direct - This ground‐breaking product allows clients to trade ordinary shares overseas, convert the shares to ADRs in U.S. dollars and receive a net ADR price in seconds. With ADR Direct, a client settles the ADR portion of the trade through the U.S. settlement system.

• ADR Plus ‐ An algorithmic strategy that allows clients to optimally source liquidity for their ADR trades in both the overseas and U.S. markets. ADR Plus automatically converts to and from ADRs without clients having to manage the conversion process. For U.S. exchange listed ADRs, during trading hours in Europe and Latin America where the overseas and ADR markets overlap, ADR Plus executes each algo slice by dynamically monitoring liquidity and price in both markets. Even though part or all of the order will be traded overseas, the ADR Plus workflow permits clients to send U.S. symbols from their OMS or EMS in the same way they would for an order traded in the U.S.

• Reverse ADR - Clients can trade ADRs in the U.S., receive a local currency conversion price and settle the trade in ordinary shares in the local currency, all according to the local settlement cycle. With Reverse ADR, investors can extend the local trading day into U.S. trading hours, continue to trade when there is news and diversify trading markets during the Europe/U.S. overlap.