As Mexico's third largest financial institution, the presence of GFNorte considerably enhances the reach of the Fidessa network in Latin America, and offers network members access to proximity hosted and co-located DMA to Mexico's stock exchange, the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (BMV).

The move is a result of GFNorte's merger with IXE Grupo Financiero, S.A.B. de C.V. (IXE) in the first quarter of 2011. IXE has operated through Fidessa's connectivity network for more than two years, offering trading strategies and algorithms such as TWAP, VWAP, and PoV to help its clients competitively access trades. It has also offered co-location, market data via FIX and a low-latency direct gateway to the BMV as well as dedicated channels from New York. The same electronic trading capabilities are now available to Fidessa network members via GFNorte, but the larger group also offers enhanced local flow which facilitates natural crossing and block-trading opportunities.

Bruno Grebe, GFNorte's Head of Equities, said: "In the Mexican marketplace, it is more essential than ever for broker dealers to have access to an extensive and secure transaction network as well as competitive execution services to help them capture liquidity and achieve global growth. New regulations in Mexico enable broker dealers to establish separate channels to segregate their order flow. Consequently, GFNorte is introducing a new channel specifically for DMA flow, which better facilitates group trading, which is available through the Fidessa network."

Alice Botis, Fidessa's Head of Business Development in Latin America, added: "Thanks to the merger between Banorte and IXE earlier this year, GFNorte has sizable flow from both the retail and corporate side of the business and is an obvious source of natural crosses that minimize price impact. Along with its developing DMA offerings, the group's presence on the network enhances the services on offer to our members around the globe and we are delighted to be able to extend our reach in Mexico in this way."

The addition of GFNorte to its network is the latest in a series of moves by Fidessa to enable both its regional and international clients to trade more effectively across Latin America. It has extended the capabilities of its Mexico and Brazilian trading platforms and increased the reach of its trading network, which now has more than 3,000 members from both the buy-side and sell-side, covering more than 154 markets across EMEA, Asia Pacific and the Americas. One of the world's most wide-reaching and powerful trading networks, it carries order flow of more than US$800 billion each month and allows members to extend their trading business by attracting international flow in a secure, reliable and cost-effective manner.

GFNorte is the third-largest financial institution in Mexico measured in terms of loans, deposits and distribution network, and fourth-largest in terms of assets. As of June 2011, GFNorte's total assets were valued at Ps. 778.7 billion: a Ps. 319.5 billion loan portfolio with core deposits of Ps. 335.4 billion as well as a distribution network of 1,311 branches, 6,222 ATMs and 79,885 POS terminals.