The two companies will integrate access to Liquidnet with LatentZero's order management system, Minerva, which will enable institutional users to trade large blocks of shares directly and anonymously across 13 international equity markets.

Liquidnet, whose membership manages nearly $8.4 trillion of institutional assets, is a global trading system that enables institutions to conduct real-time negotiations with fellow buy-side institutions.

Through Liquidnet, Minerva's users will be able to trade large blocks of stock without breaking them down into smaller trades. This will minimize the market impact and avoid the unnecessary transaction costs that ultimately erode performance. Institutions will benefit from the ability to source liquidity without making their intentions known to the marketplace, and maintain complete control of execution price and quantity. Integration between Liquidnet and Minerva will be effective from the first quarter of 2006 in both the US and Europe.

Alfred Eskandar, Director of Corporate Strategy at Liquidnet said: "We are delighted to be entering into this alliance with LatentZero. Not only is Minerva one of the most innovative and sophisticated order management systems available, but the company has an impressive list of global institutional clients who will be able to seamlessly interact with Liquidnet's vast liquidity pool. With our shared global outlook, and determination to provide the best possible services to our customers, we're sure that this relationship will be highly successful."

Mark Montgomery from LatentZero added: "The buy-side faces increasing difficulties in sourcing adequate liquidity in today's marketplaces. LatentZero's work with Liquidnet addresses some of their concerns over market impact in traditional venues, and will offer our clients a new and important execution destination, enabling them to conduct business in the most effective way. Our relationship with Liquidnet is part of our wider drive to offer a comprehensive set of execution services, including direct market access, to our clients. Through Minerva, our aim is to strengthen end-to-end processes and take order management in to the execution stage."