Stuart Rutherford joins from BT Radianz as Business Connectivity Manager, and will report directly into Jim Gollan, CEO.

Chris Smith joins from TradeWeb and has been appointed Business Development and Commercial Manager.

Ian Lennox joins virt-x as Senior Project Manager.

The appointments reflect virt-x's commitment to strengthening its core business - the trading of European blue-chip securities which hit record high levels in March of this year - and to meeting the demand for new services in today's evolving trading and regulatory landscape.

Stuart joins virt-x with over 20 years of experience in financial sector. Before joining virt-x he worked as Buy-side segment Manager at BT Radianz and spent nine years at Merrill Lynch where his roles included Head of Best Execution Dealing and Head of Institutional Client Connectivity. In both functions he was responsible for introducing automated dealing systems to retail and institutional clients.

Chris Smith also has extensive experience in providing cutting-edge electronic trading systems to financial services firms worldwide. Chris was formerly a Vice President of TradeWeb Europe LTD, a leading online trading and execution venue. Both Stuart and Chris will be responsible for expanding virt-x’s reputation for innovative exchange services in response to in depth member consultation.

Ian lennox has worked in the financial sector for many years holding senior roles with Reuters, Instinet, SWIFT and ABN AMRO. Prior to joining virt-x, Ian Lennox was Managing Consultant at NET2S, where he worked with top tier banking clients to analyse their market data systems and transform their electronic trading methods. Ian also collaborated in the MiFID Joint Working Group and is a leading expert on the forthcoming regulations.

Jim Gollan, CEO of virt-x, said: "We are delighted to welcome these three senior trading experts to virt-x. We have appointed Stuart, Chris and Ian to support the growth of our core trading activities and assist in the development of our business. Our members are facing many new challenges at present, particularly with the introduction of MiFID. In response to changing regulation, virt-x will continue to offer flexible trading solutions tailored to client needs. These new appointments reinforce our services to members."