Alpha applies for exchange status

Last week, Alpha caused more bother for the TMX Group by applying to the Ontario Securities Commission for
recognized exchange status. Approval, which Alpha's optimistic chief executive
officer Jos Schmitt hopes to have by the end of the year, will enable Alpha to
compete for listings revenue as well as trading revenue. About one-quarter of
the TMX's revenues come from listings. On the day of the announcement, April
22, 2010, the incumbent exchange's stock fell 50 cents to $29, its biggest
one-day drop since early February.

The TMX's immediate response, voiced by Kevan Cowan in an interview with Bloomberg, was to note that while
Alpha has found success in building a market share of securities on the TSX and
the TSX-V in a year and a half, "Alpha is unlikely to penetrate the listings
business as quickly as it captured market share in trading." He also said
the TMX brand will favour the former monopoly when companies decide to list in
Canada.

Tom Kloet, chief executive officer of the TMX, had more to say about Alpha's request to be an exchange.
Although Mr. Kloet welcomes competition in Canada, he has concerns about
potential conflicts of interest in Alpha becoming an exchange, mostly because
the owners of the ATS are Canada's big banks and Canaccord Financial Inc. If
Alpha becomes an exchange, not only will it be able to sell listings, it will
also approve stock sales and mergers with a goal of protecting investors and
the integrity of the market. Mr. Kloet implies that as an exchange, Alpha may
make decisions on listings to benefit its backers. He said Alpha's request is a
step backward and a model that "has largely been rejected everywhere in
the world."

by Stockwatch Business Reporter