TNS Enters Czech Republic with Wood & Co.

RESTON, Va. -- Transaction Network Services (NYSE:TNS) has extended its presence in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in a deal to connect Central Europe's premier brokerage, Wood & Co, to its Secure Trading Extranet.

Via TNS' proprietary network, Wood & Co will have access to the Warsaw Stock Exchange and will link to institutional investor clients located in Eastern Europe and internationally.

Wood & Co advises domestic and international customers on investment strategies in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. Established in 1991, the firm has offices in Prague and Bratislava, Slovakia. Already among the Prague Stock Exchange's most active brokerages, the firm is also a member of similar institutions in Vienna, Austria; Warsaw, Poland; Frankfurt, Germany; and Budapest, Hungary.

"As the Czech Republic's first brokerage firm, we have attracted a new type of investor who likes the fundamentals of our region but prefers straight-through-processing of their trading orders," said Andrea Ferancova, Wood & Co's partner and director of equities. "Companies in the former Eastern bloc have identified the need to raise capital and engage with the international financial community. Electronic trading increases liquidity and enables easy access to emerging Central and Eastern European markets. Enlisting TNS' Secure Trading Extranet will cement our position as one of the leading brokerages in Central Europe and our value as a gateway to the region's markets."

"TNS is delighted to have been chosen by Wood & Co. to strengthen their trading services across Central and Eastern Europe," said Alan R. Schwartz, Executive Vice President and General Manager, TNS. "This agreement is a tremendous opportunity for TNS to support Wood & Co. by connecting them to our Secure Trading Extranet to provide reliable and secure connectivity.

"The maturing of CEE markets has created demand for international trading connectivity and the ability to trade in the Financial Information eXchange (FIX) protocol," said Alex Walker, Vice President, TNS Financial Markets (International). "The Secure Trading Extranet is known to provide best-in-class speed, reliability and security, as well as connecting one of the world's largest financial communities of interest. This deal also means participants on the TNS network will have access to one of Central and Eastern Europe's leading brokerage firms."

By using TNS' Secure Trading Extranet, financial institutions can submit a variety of trade-related messages, including indications of interest, order routing and executions. It also enables them to perform other FIX and non-FIX transactions. On-net institutions can be connected to each other within three days. Security is paramount; with high-value transactions protected using access validation, end-to-end encryption and secure points-of-presence.

TNS' Secure Trading Extranet now connects over 1,000 financial community end-points, representing more than 450 buy and sell-side institutions, market data and software vendors, exchanges and alternative trading venues.

About Transaction Network Services, Inc.

Transaction Network Services is one of the leading providers of business-critical, cost-effective data communications services for transaction-oriented applications. TNS provides rapid, reliable and secure transaction delivery platforms to enable transaction authorization and processing across several vertical markets and trading communities.

Since its inception in 1990, TNS has designed and implemented multiple data networks, each designed specifically for the transport of transaction-oriented data. TNS networks support a variety of widely accepted communications protocols and are designed to be scalable and accessible by multiple methods. TNS network technologies have been deployed in the United States and internationally, and TNS networks have become preferred networks servicing the trading community, wireless and wireline carriers, and the card processing and dial-up automated teller machine markets. For further information about TNS transaction solutions, please refer to www.tnsi.com.