JERSEY CITY, N.J., April 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Knight/Trimark Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NITE), the largest wholesale market maker in U.S. equity securities, announced today that its Knight Securities International Ltd. subsidiary has signed a lease agreement for the former trading floor of the London Stock Exchange (LSE), as part of an approximately 68,000 square foot space acquisition in the LSE building. Knight will commence site work at its new location within the next month. The firm plans to have a pilot trading capacity in place by the end of the second quarter, and full operational trading capabilities up and running by the fourth quarter of this year.

"Our agreement to acquire this world class facility in London is a significant development for Knight's future growth, as it will serve as the launching pad for our continued expansion into the European marketplace," said Kenneth D. Pasternak, the president and chief executive officer of Knight/Trimark Group. "A paradigm shift toward the self-directed investor is just getting started in Europe, as a result of the rising importance of technology and the Internet in the region. Knight plans to empower these self-directed investors by providing European broker-dealers with immediacy and proactive guaranteed liquidity on their transactions. We are confident that Europe will be receptive to our portable business model. We aim to revolutionize securities trading in the region, as we are currently doing in the U.S."

"Our new space in the LSE building is a fabulous facility that will enable us to support a very big trading business," said John Hewitt, the president of Knight Securities, a subsidiary of Knight/Trimark. "We will, over time, build a business that will make markets in all European stocks and take over market making responsibilities for Asian, as well as U.S. stocks, during the European business hours. We expect that in the future the notion of business hours will blur, and that we will make markets 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I do not believe that there is a trading facility anywhere in the world that has the kind of technology that this one does. The infrastructure is invaluable to our business plan." Knight also is in the final stages of discussions about clearing and technology services in Europe. These agreements, which the firm anticipates executing within the next 60 days, will enable Knight to solidify its position as a next-generation market maker in Europe.

Knight/Trimark Group, headquartered in Jersey City, NJ, is the parent company of Knight Securities, Knight Capital Markets (formerly Trimark Securities), Knight Financial Products (formerly Arbitrade, LLC) and Knight Securities International Ltd. Knight/Trimark's subsidiaries make markets in equity securities listed on Nasdaq, the OTCBB of the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and in options on individual equities, equity indices, fixed income instruments and certain commodities in the U.S. and Europe. The firm also maintains an asset management business for institutional investors and high net worth individuals through Knight Financial Products' Deephaven subsidiary.

As the number one destination for online trade executions, Knight/Trimark is the processing power behind the explosive growth in securities trading via the Internet. The firm was recently selected to Fortune's "e-50 Stock Index," an elite collection of companies that are shaping the new Internet-based economy. In addition, Knight also was selected to the "Forbes 500," a ranking of the most profitable companies in the U.S. Currently, the four-year-old company employs more than 900 people worldwide with offices in Jersey City, NJ; Jericho, White Plains, Purchase and New York, NY; Chicago, IL; Boston, MA; Minnetonka, MN; Santa Clara, CA; and London, England. SOURCE Knight/Trimark Group, Inc.

CONTACT: Margaret Wyrwas, Vice President, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations, 201-557-6954, or mwyrwas@knight-sec.com; or Chuck Dohrenwend, Manager, Corporate Communications, 201-356-1753, or chuck_dohrenwend@knight-sec.com, both of Knight/Trimark Group; or Russell Dubner, 212-704-4538, or Creighton Abrams, 212-704-8295, both of Edelman