TNS has added new points-of-presence to its network, the Secure Trading Extranet, in Malaysia and Thailand and is finalising points of presence in China, India, Indonesia and Taiwan and appointed local agents in those countries.

Via a single connection into the Secure Trading Extranet, traders in the region will now have access to an international financial community comprising 1,000 end-points for fast, reliable and secure transport of trading related data and around the price of a local connection.

Previously, traders wanting to engage with Asian or international counterparties had to have multiple point-to-point connections or use remote trading hubs with associated delays in reponse times and risks to security.

TNS has also installed a new routing arrangement to reduce the distance trading data must travel and latency times by up to 100 milliseconds.

Alex Walker, Vice President, TNS Financial Markets (International) said: "The big five markets comprising Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Australia are already well-served by telecommunications companies, financial extranet providers and investment banks for communications and trading services.

Now we are seeing rising interest among international buy-side institutions in emerging markets in SE Asia, notably Korea, where government and IMF intervention post 1997, has brought renewed economic growth and stability.

Our new points-of-presence will open up greenfield sites to international trading and make them accessible to institutions on the TNS network. The new routing arrangement will ensure best-in-class latency and continuity of service should there ever be a break in an Atlantic or Pacific cable."

Participants on the Secure Trading Extranet can submit indications of interest, route orders, execute trades and support advanced applications including market data, voice and wide-area network services and establish a new connection with an on-net trading partner within three days.

Mr Walker said that the presence of the Secure Trading Extranet would act as a catalyst to expansion in non big five financial markets. He said: "Just twelve months ago sell-side institutions in the region were not well automated or geared up for international trading. The surge in interest among international buyside organisations is forcing these markets to become more open.

We are assisting early adopters in the move to electronic trading and to industry standard protocols such as the Financial Information eXchange (FIX) and have installed teams of local telecommunications experts who can use their knowledge and contacts to build networks from the ground up to meet the precise needs of traders in the region."

TNS operates a global network dedicated to the financial community and comprising 96 points-of-presence in 28 countries in the Americas, Europe and SE Asia.

Mr Walker said: "Brokers in SE Asia are recognising that, if they want to trade with the international buy-side community, they are well-placed to do so via TNS. The Secure Trading Extranet is linked to the world's largest buy and sell-side organisations.

Bigger brokerages and international buyside institutions will now be able to roll out trading systems throughout the region at a price that competes with local providers. We are already seeing brokerages develop their own proprietary systems to provide direct feeds of pricing data to trusted trading partners as an alternative to using Reuters or Bloomberg.

The Secure Trading Extranet offers all the benefits of hub and spoke networks, including fast, secure and reliable connectivity with many trading partners, without the limitations. Unlike hub and spoke, where content must be processed in order to route trades, the Secure Trading Extranet transmits messages directly and offers encryption as an option."

TNS' expansion in SE Asia is part of the New York Stock Exchange listed company's plans for aggressive growth outside North America. In the past 12 months, TNS has extended its network from 70 to 96 points of presence.