DirectMarkets' Clients Gain Access to BIDS ATS

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Direct Markets, Inc., a subsidiary of Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, Inc. RODM and the owner and operator of the DirectMarkets platform, an automated state-of-the-art electronic transaction platform that will directly link existing public companies and investors seeking to transact primary offerings of securities, and BIDS Trading, L.P., the operator of the BIDS ATS (alternative trading system) designed to increase competition and liquidity in the U.S. equity block trading market, announced the signing of a subscriber agreement by DirectMarkets' broker-dealer affiliate, Rodman & Renshaw, LLC, that allows DirectMarkets to provide its customers with direct and anonymous access to the block liquidity in the BIDS ATS. Securities transaction services on the DirectMarkets platform will be provided through DirectMarkets' broker-dealer affiliate, Rodman & Renshaw, LLC.

“We are pleased that our broker-dealer affiliate, Rodman & Renshaw, LLC, has become a sponsoring broker with BIDS Trading, which will give DirectMarkets' clients access to an additional source of reliable liquidity in the markets,” said Kevin Lupowitz, CEO of DirectMarkets. “This value-added service, combined with the robust transaction platform that we developed, demonstrates our continued commitment to best servicing our clients' needs.”

With its many features, the DirectMarkets platform will empower issuers to sell shares (covered by a shelf registration) directly into the secondary market and to complete funding transactions at a fraction of the current cost. Using the same platform, investors will be able to directly contact issuers with effective shelf registrations in place to buy that issuer's stock, effectively gaining the ability to accumulate stock positions in a more cost-effective manner than through ongoing open market purchases. Both investors and issuers will benefit from 24/7 seamless access to the DirectMarkets platform through a graphical user interface (GUI) accessible via a desktop or laptop computer, as well as mobile smart devices such as tablets or smartphones.

BIDS Trading supports a sponsored access model that allows buy-side clients to select a broker to pay for their trading activity in the BIDS ATS. Buy-side clients benefit by more effectively utilizing their commission dollars to pay for the goods and services provided by their broker/dealer partners. BIDS Trading allows market participants to trade large blocks of equities without revealing their order. Information disclosure is controlled by the trader via customizable trading tools: traders set their minimum block size to help protect their order and they can filter out counterparties based on past trading behavior.

“We are very excited to add Rodman & Renshaw to our growing list of sponsoring brokers and provide an additional source of liquidity to clients of DirectMarkets,” said Tim Mahoney, CEO of BIDS Trading. “This agreement furthers our efforts to continue to create an open, efficient marketplace in the BIDS ATS, and offer the broadest participation and deepest liquidity pool possible to anonymously trade blocks of U.S. equities.”

About BIDS Trading, L.P.

BIDS Trading, L.P. is a registered broker-dealer and the operator of the BIDS Alternative Trading System (ATS), which was designed to bring counterparties together to anonymously trade large blocks of shares. Developed by a consortium of leading financial services firms, the BIDS ATS resolves the classic paradox of the block trader – the need to find legitimate trading counterparties without prematurely revealing trading intentions.

BIDS Trading is a joint venture of: Bank of America Merrill Lynch BAC, Barclays Capital BARC, Citi C, Credit Suisse Group CS, Deutsche Bank DB, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. GS, JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM, Knight Capital Group, Inc. KCG, Morgan Stanley MS, NYSE Euronext (NYX), and UBS UBS.

For more information, visit www.bidstrading.com.

About Direct Markets, Inc.

A subsidiary of Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, Inc. RODM, Direct Markets, Inc. will operate an automated state-of-the-art electronic transaction platform to directly link existing public company issuers and investors seeking to transact primary offerings of securities. DirectMarkets will bring unprecedented, cost-efficient access to the capital markets into the C-Suite of public companies and bypass certain traditional roles typically held by investment banks that presently control the transactional process. Both investors and issuers will benefit from 24/7 seamless access to the DirectMarkets platform through a graphical user interface (GUI) accessible via a desktop or laptop computer, as well as mobile smart devices such as tablets or smartphones. Securities transaction services on the DirectMarkets platform will be provided through DirectMarkets' broker-dealer affiliate, Rodman & Renshaw, LLC. For more information, please visit www.directmkts.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding future events and financial performance including, but not limited to the timing and success of the roll-out of the DirectMarkets platform. In some cases, you can identify these statements by words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,” “except,” “plan,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” or “continue,” the negative of these terms and other comparable terminology. These statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties and are based on numerous assumptions involving judgments with respect to future economic, competitive and market conditions and future business decisions, all of which are difficult or impossible to predict accurately and many of which are beyond the control of Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, Inc. There are or may be important factors that could cause the actual results of Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, Inc. to materially differ from its historical results or from any future results expressed or implied by such forward looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, those discussed under the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed March 16, 2012, which is available at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission website at www.sec.gov. The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, Inc. management's reasonable belief as of the date hereof. Rodman & Renshaw Capital Group, Inc. undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements for any reason.