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ITG launches new algo to tackle volatile markets

Agency broker and technology firm Investment Technology Group (ITG) has launched Raider, an execution algorithm for the US market that is designed to quickly seize opportunities in fast-moving markets.

Raider simultaneously accesses both lit and dark venues, including ITG’s own POSIT Marketplace, which combines flow from the firm’s POSIT Now and POSIT Match crossing engines, the ITG Dark Algorithm and external pools. As the algorithm does not post orders on the lit venues, they remain completely hidden.

Instead of using a benchmark, Raider identifies attractive spreads, executes quickly to capture them and then pulls back as the liquidity dries up and the spread widens again. The algorithm also allows users to specify the urgency of the trade, so its behaviour ranges from stealthy to aggressive.

UK unbundling regime moving market in right direction - FSA

The UK regime governing dealing commissions has helped cut commission rates, limited use of commissions to the purchase of execution and research services and encouraged greater separation in how these services are bought, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) said.

In a review of the framework for buy-side use of dealing commissions introduced in 2006, the UK regulator claimed that benefits had been “clearly delivered” to the market, adding that the “expected changes were occurring and that the market was moving towards delivering the intended outcomes”.

The FSA report noted that use of commission sharing agreements (CSAs) had increased, with 70% of investment managers using CSAs compared with 50% in 2005. It also found that commission expenditure is now “overwhelmingly” used to pay for research services rather than execution-related services. Commissions have declined since the introduction of the new rules, the report found, in line with expectations that greater transparency would exert downward pressure on pricing, but the FSA acknowledged that the trend toward lower commission rates was established before the regime was introduced. Management fees were found to have fallen between 2006 and 2007 for actively managed funds while charges for passively managed funds increased slightly.

Cheuvreux to complete crossing engine roll-out in Q2

French broking house CA Cheuvreux is planning to finalise the roll-out of its Blink internal crossing engine for European equities by the end of Q2, following its launch at the beginning of this year.

"Blink has been live in a fairly limited environment, but we are extending it regularly,” Philippe Guillot, global head of trading and execution at Cheuvreux, told theTRADEnews.com. “We are adding customers, markets and securities. It is really about expanding the breadth and depth of liquidity coming into the engine.”

Blink crosses child-level orders from a variety of order flow types coming into Cheuvreux. This includes retail and institutional buy-side, sell-side, algorithmic, program trading and direct market access flow.

Orders entering Blink are duplicated and sent on to displayed exchanges. If an order crosses with another order in Blink, the system either cancels or revises the order in the lit venue to account for the amount matched internally.

European buy-side cuts dependence on sales traders – TABB

Twelve percent of European buy-side traders have shifted equities order flow away from brokers’ sales-traders to more self-directed, low-touch execution methods such as direct market access, algorithms and non-displayed multilateral trading facilities, according to a new study from research and consulting firm TABB Group.

According to the study, ‘European Equity Trading 2009: Counterparties, Capital and Control', the shift away from sales traders has taken place amid falling liquidity and a dearth of broker risk capital, as well as a rapidly changing market structure in Europe. The study was based on conversations with 53 buy-side traders dealing European equities in 12 major European Union countries.

DTCC makes second hire in bid to woo trading community

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), the US’s central clearing provider, has appointed Daniel G. Faryniarz, a former Merrill Lynch executive with experience in fixed income and derivatives sales, to the newly-created position of managing director, market structure and industry relations.

In his new role, Faryniarz will help lead DTCC’s efforts to identify and develop new market opportunities in the front-office and trading communities. His appointment closely follows the announcement of DTCC’s hiring of Robert Hegarty, formerly of research and consulting firm TowerGroup, to a similar position at the end of March. Like Hegarty, Faryniarz will report to James Leonard, DTCC’s managing director of strategy and marketing.

MTFs detail schedules for single stock code migration

Chi-X Europe, the pan-European multilateral trading facility (MTF) owned by agency brokerage Instinet, has revealed its timeline for migrating to the uniform stock symbology agreed on by a group of European trading platforms.

Trading participants and data vendors will be able to engage in order entry and market data testing for the new stock codes on Chi-X from today, and full adoption of the symbology is scheduled for 11 May. From this date, the new codes will run in parallel with the current symbology, before a full switchover on 30 October 2009.

Meanwhile, broker-backed MTF Turquoise has delayed its migration to uniform stock codes from the end of this month until June.

French broker to use Chi-Tech trading platform

Oddo & Cie, a Paris-based independent agency brokerage, has implemented MarketPrizm, a trading infrastructure platform provided by Chi-X Global Technology (Chi-Tech), the technology services unit of trading venue operator Chi-X Global.

MarketPrizm is an application service provider-based algorithmic trading infrastructure for brokerage firms. The implementation of the platform at Oddo & Cie provides the broker with inbound market data for selected markets, while trading technology firm Quod Financial, which Chi-Tech partnered with on the project, will supply the direct market access and smart order routing functionality. Chi-Tech also provides maintenance and operations support.

“MiFID has resulted in the need for brokers to provide new trading capabilities in order to remain competitive,” said Tarak Achiche, chief operating officer at Oddo & Cie, in a statement. “After an extensive search to find a technology partner that could help us meet our needs, we selected Chi-Tech’s MarketPrizm solution because, among other things, it enables us to efficiently and affordably manage our algo trading processes while helping our clients meet their best execution requirements.”

Apama to help CBA tackle Australia fragmentation

Progress Apama, the algorithmic trading division of Progress Software, has implemented its complex event processing (CEP) platform for equity execution at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA).

By using the CEP platform, CBA will have access to Apama’s algorithms, allowing the bank to automate select transactions. According to Apama, the installation of its platform will enable CBA to expand its coverage and process orders more efficiently in accordance with specific instructions or business rules, freeing up operators to focus on business requiring manual expertise.

“We worked with CBA and used their expertise to translate the logic they wanted to use and tweaked our algorithms specifically for the stock profiles and market characteristics of the Australian market,” Dr John Bates, Progress Apama’s founder and general manager, told theTRADEnews.com.

Chi-X unveils commodity trading plans

Chi-X Europe, the pan-European multilateral trading facility owned by agency brokerage Instinet, has announced its intention to start trading exchange traded commodities (ETCs) later this month.

From Monday 20 April, ETF Securities, an issuer of ETCs and exchange traded funds (ETFs), will make its ETFS physical gold and gold bullion securities available on Chi-X in both dollar and sterling currencies. Access to the products will be afforded by market segment. If a participant already has access to the Chi-X’s UK segment, they will also have access to the MTF’s UK ETCs.

SEC explores new US short-selling restrictions

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seeking public comment on whether it should impose price or so-called circuit-breaker restrictions on short-selling US equities.

The commission said it is re-evaluating the use of short-selling restrictions because of “extreme market conditions and the resulting deterioration of investor confidence”.

The SEC’s decision to consult on new short-selling rules follows calls from several market participants for increased controls on short-selling. In March, for example, the US’s three biggest exchange groups – NYSE Euronext, Nasdaq OMX and BATS Exchange – wrote to SEC chairman Mary Schapiro proposing that a revised version of the uptick rule that was repealed in 2007 be used in conjunction with a circuit breaker that would take effect if a particular stock’s value dropped sharply. Uptick rules only permit short sales when stock prices are stable or rising.

Link Up Markets reports successful launch

Link Up Markets, the joint venture between eight European central securities depositories (CSDs), has announced the successful launch of its operations on 30 March.

The venture is designed to facilitate links between CSDs to improve efficiency and reduce costs of cross-border securities settlement in Europe.

Four national CSDs – Clearstream Banking Frankfurt (Germany), OeKB (Austria), SIX SIS (Switzerland) and VP (Denmark) established connections upon launch. Hellenic Exchanges (Greece) and Iberclear (Spain) will connect in June, followed by the Cyprus Stock Exchange (Cypus) and VPS (Norway) in Q4.

By connecting to the Link Up Markets infrastructure, each participating CSD will be able to access the services of the other linked CSDs. According to Link Up Markets, the eight CSDs involved settle 50% of European securities transactions and will significantly reduce the gap between domestic and cross-border costs for transactions.

Link Up Markets reports successful launch

Link Up Markets, the joint venture between eight European central securities depositories (CSDs), has announced the successful launch of its operations on 30 March.

The venture is designed to facilitate links between CSDs to improve efficiency and reduce costs of cross-border securities settlement in Europe.

Four national CSDs – Clearstream Banking Frankfurt (Germany), OeKB (Austria), SIX SIS (Switzerland) and VP (Denmark) established connections upon launch. Hellenic Exchanges (Greece) and Iberclear (Spain) will connect in June, followed by the Cyprus Stock Exchange (Cypus) and VPS (Norway) in Q4.

By connecting to the Link Up Markets infrastructure, each participating CSD will be able to access the services of the other linked CSDs. According to Link Up Markets, the eight CSDs involved settle 50% of European securities transactions and will significantly reduce the gap between domestic and cross-border costs for transactions.

Financial crisis scuppers LSE’s CFD plans

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has abandoned its plans to introduce contracts for difference (CFD) trading on its order book because of the current economic climate.

The exchange planned to offer a combined CFD and equity order book, where exchange-traded CFDs based on FTSE 100 equities that would trade with and alongside their underlying cash equities. This would, for example, allow investors to hedge their equity positions. Clearing services for the new offering were to be provided by the LSE’s incumbent clearing house, LCH.Clearnet.

The service was dependent on the contribution of several prime financing partners, which the LSE says were all leading financial houses, whose job it would have been to ensure CFD trades and underlying equity trades were matched seamlessly. However, due to the current economic climate and reduction in trading activity, the prime financing partners’ positions has now changed.

ICE starts clearing US credit default swaps

ICE US Trust, a New York limited liability trust company owned by US futures exchange group IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), has started clearing and processing credit default swap (CDS) index transactions in the North American Markit CDX indices. It expects to start clearing liquid single-name CDS in the coming months. Market data firm Markit will produce daily settlement prices required for mark-to-market pricing, margining and clearing.

“ICE Trust has been designed to further enhance well-functioning CDS markets by reducing counterparty and systemic risks, and increasing transparency and capital efficiency in the CDS markets,” said Jeffrey C. Sprecher, chairman and CEO of ICE, in a statement. “ICE will continue to work closely with the Federal Reserve and other regulatory bodies in the US and abroad in implementing risk management solutions for the vital credit markets.”

NYSE Arca Europe, a displayed pan-European multilateral trading facility (MTF)

NYSE Arca Europe, a displayed pan-European multilateral trading facility (MTF) created by exchange group NYSE Euronext, started trading today and will offer free trading until April as part of a three-week-long launch promotion. However, unlike other pan-European MTFs, it will charge both for posting and taking liquidity.

The platform, whose launch was delayed twice last year because of a lack of client readiness, will enter a phased launch from today and will offer European stocks that are not already available on Euronext’s regulated cash markets in Portugal, Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

From today, the platform will trade stocks from Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. A second phase, planned for early April, will include UK and Irish stocks.

Chi-X Europe names interim replacement for Randall

Chi-X Europe, a pan-European multilateral trading facility, has appointed Mark Howarth as interim CEO, replacing Peter Randall, who is stepping down for personal reasons.

Howarth is currently chief operating officer, Asia-Pacific at Chi-X Global, the holding company for all Chi-X’s trading platforms in Europe, Canada and Australia. Chi-X Global is 100%-owned by agency broker Instinet.

Before joining Chi-X, Howarth was CEO of data vendor Thomson Financial in Asia-Pacific and previously held senior institutional equities positions in Europe, Japan, and Hong Kong at Merrill Lynch, UBS and Instinet.

“Through its technology, market model and incredibly lean cost basis, Chi-X Europe has been able to not only survive amid great competition, but also thrive,” said Howarth in a statement. “I look forward to working with our team to continue to provide participants with the level of service and innovation that they have come to expect from Chi-X Europe.”

Buy-side algo use grows despite turmoil – The TRADE survey

The buy-side has expanded its use of execution algorithms for equity trades, despite difficult trading conditions and evidence of a return to high-touch trading methods, The TRADE’s 2009 algorithmic trading survey has found.

According to the survey, which will be published in full in the Q1 2009 issue of The TRADE, more than a quarter (26%) of buy-side traders now use algorithms for more than 40% of their order flow, compared with only 9% in last year’s survey.

A total of 150 senior buy-side traders based in 20 countries across the world commented on their use – and the performance – of algorithms in this year’s survey.
In December, TABB Group’s annual study of US institutional equity trading reported that sales traders had captured 44% of total buy-side flow, compared with 37% in 2007. Rather than shunning algorithms in the tough trading conditions seen at the end of 2008 and the beginning of 2009, many algorithm providers contend that the buy-side has also turned to algorithms to weather the storm.

UBS launches real-time TCA tool in Europe

UBS Investment Bank has launched a real-time transaction cost analysis (TCA) service to help European clients achieve best execution.

Available via UBS Fusion, the firm’s equity trading analytics platform, the new service provides buy-side traders with live, continuous analysis of their orders during execution.

Real-time TCA is part of UBS’s Direct Execution electronic trading suite, which also includes trading and analytical tools such as pre-trade transaction cost analysis for single stock and portfolio trading, a suite of in-market tools including trading alerts, and downloadable reports and analysis tools.

“Via Fusion, clients can see where they are getting fills across different venues and react accordingly in real time,” Mark Goodman, managing director, Direct Execution (Equities), UBS, told theTRADEnews.com. “A client might initially instruct our TAP algorithm to take good prices wherever it can find them, but then decide to take a more patient approach and reduce participation in displayed markets in favour of dark liquidity.”

New DMA service planned to Brazilian exchange

Itau Securities, the broking arm of Brazil’s Bank Itau, is to offer its global clients direct market access (DMA) to the Sao Paolo equities and futures exchange using an electronic trading platform from NYSE Technologies.

The new service means Itau will become the first broker to provide customers with DMA connectivity to Brazil’s BM&F Bovespa.

Stanley Young, CEO, NYSE Technologies and co-global CIO, NYSE Euronext, said the agreement between the two firms would lead to a “new breed of direct market access solutions” in Latin America. “We are excited to work with Itau on a truly ground-breaking project that further opens the Latin American marketplaces to the global investors and puts the global markets within reach of the Brazilian investors,” he said.

“As we continue our global expansion to London, Dubai, Hong Kong and Tokyo, Itau Securities is working with NYSE Euronext to build this new platform giving us the ability to offer our customers outside Latin America a robust, innovative trading solution for trading in our markets,” said Roberto Nishikawa, CEO, Itau Securities.

Longer stay for short-sales ban in Australia

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), Australia’s financial regulator, has further extended its short selling ban for financial stocks due to continued volatility.

The ban, originally due to end on Friday, will now be kept in place until 31 May, although ASIC has said this would be under constant review.

“In making its judgement to again extend the ban, ASIC weighed up the continued volatility in global financial markets and potential damage from aggressive or predatory practices from short selling against the possible loss of some market efficiency or price discovery,” read a statement on ASIC’s website.

BNY ConvergEx launches algos for Latin America

BNY ConvergEx Group, an agency brokerage and software provider, has released a suite of customisable algorithms for the Brazilian and Mexican markets.

According to the firm, its new array of Latin American algorithmic strategies have performance-driven capabilities that can be customised to meet individual market requirements and different trading objectives. They have the ability to track market sensitivity and adjust dynamically as local conditions change throughout the trading day, helping to minimise market impact.

“The Brazilian Bovespa and Mexican Bolsa Mexicana de Valores are the two largest exchanges in Latin America,” said William Capuzzi, president of BNY ConvergEx Group’s G-Trade Services. “It was key that we stay ahead of these growing markets and it is critical that we continue to provide our clients access to new and unique sources of international liquidity.”

Nomura revives Lehman’s Asian trading platform

Japanese investment bank Nomura has launched a new pan-Asian electronic trading platform for equities, integrating the execution capabilities it acquired from its takeover of Lehman Brothers Asia last September. This follows the launch of Nomura's European equities platform, created from the acquisition of Lehman's European division, in January.

The new ModelEx platform, based on Lehman’s algorithmic and direct market access (DMA) suite, will run simultaneously with Experts, Nomura’s existing electronic trading offering, while the pan-Asian capabilities of ModelEx are built out. Experts currently offers DMA in Japan and Hong Kong, and algorithmic trading in Japan, while ModelEx will be connected to equity markets in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.

When the integration is complete, Nomura clients will be able to benefit from the combination of Lehman’s Asian quantitative analytics team, algorithmic developers, information technology and operations personnel, and Nomura’s client relationships and analytics in Japan.

Job cut fears may stall EC mandate on CCP links

While progress has been slow on achieving interoperability between Europe’s cash equity central counterparties (CCPs), it is unlikely that the European Commission (EC) will step in and mandate links between clearing houses any time soon for fear of causing more job losses across the continent.

Few links have been established between CCPs in the three years since the EC introduced its voluntary Code of Conduct for Clearing and Settlement, designed to stimulate interoperability between post-trade providers in Europe, prompting expectations of a more forceful EC directive if more CCP links were not forged quickly.

However, Phillip Silitschanu, senior analyst at research and consulting firm Aite Group, thinks regulatory intervention is now unlikely until at least 2010 or 2011.

Pipeline Trading Systems,

Pipeline Trading Systems, a US block trading venue, has unveiled PowerPlay, an equities block-trading execution system for buy-side traders who want to execute large orders in volatile and fragmented markets.

PowerPlay gives traders access to a combination of proprietary technologies, which allow them to control simultaneous execution of multiple large orders from a single window.

According to Pipeline, PowerPlay will allow traders to minimise information leakage that results from small, probing executions. The platform will use Pipeline’s new Contra Targeting encryption technology, due to be launched in March, which allows traders to find natural matches to large trades by using information from the order management systems of other buy-side traders on the platform.

FSA tells NYFIX to modify Euro Millennium

Euro Millennium, the pan-European dark pool for equities trading, has been asked by the UK’s financial regulator to make modifications to its functionality, according to a statement by parent company NYFIX, the US-based trading solutions vendor.

In its annual results statement, issued after trading closed in New York last night, NYFIX said that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has “proposed an interpretation of a particular provision of MiFID that would require modifications to Euro Millennium's current functionality”.

NYFIX said that the modifications would result in additional development costs and would need to be completed “within a timeframe acceptable to the FSA”. The firm is engaged in discussions with the regulator over the new interpretation of MiFID’s rules to minimise the impact on its European dark pool. The new FSA ruling is part of a review of MiFID’s impact on Europe’s financial markets by European regulators.

Fidessa responds to growing demand for Asian trading in US

Trading systems provider Fidessa has added 13 Asia-Pacific markets to the global trading service on its US-hosted execution platform in response to increasing Asian trading volumes and US brokers’ growing desire to participate in the region.

The new overnight trading service will allow Fidessa’s US broker clients to execute orders in Hong Kong, Thailand, Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, China, Taiwan, India, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore and Japan during these countries’ respective trading hours. Fidessa’s global trading service already supports trading in Canada, Latin America and Europe.

According to Fidessa, the ability to provide executions and insight during market hours is a necessity for US brokers looking to expand their trading businesses.

Concept system aims to help hedge funds beat crisis

Amidst shrinking budgets and the need for better trading and risk management technology at hedge funds, US institutional broker Concept Capital has launched CONCEPTONE, a front-to-back office services platform for hedge funds.

The firm claims the new platform, which combines portfolio, order and execution management, real-time risk and profit-and-loss monitoring, and access to multiple prime brokers, will provide the services hedge funds need in today’s environment at a low cost.

According to Michael Rosen, managing director at Concept Capital, hedge funds have been hit by falling assets under management, both because of declining asset valuations in the current financial crisis and rising redemptions. This has reduced their budgets but at the same time, funds need to improve trading and risk management to attract institutional investment.

Buy-side ready for leap in the dark

The results of February’s theTRADEnews.com poll reveal that 72% of readers will make greater use of dark liquidity this year. But volatility and reduced trade sizes mean traders will have to be more wary about how they use this increasingly important liquidity source.

There is no shortage of dark trading tools in the market, with even more to launch this year. As well as the plethora of dark pools and broker-owned crossing engines, the sell-side has developed dark liquidity seeking algorithms, while exchanges and multilateral trading facilities (MTFs) are also offering or introducing non-displayed trading functionality.

The London Stock Exchange, for example, will introduce a dark limit order type on 16 March, and is preparing to launch Baikal, a dark trading venue and liquidity aggregator, in June. Turquoise, the broker-backed MTF, plans to aggregate broker dark pools from Q1 this year, to complement its integrated dark and lit book.

Goldman Sachs launches crossing network in Hong Kong

Bulge-bracket broker Goldman Sachs has expanded its global equities crossing network, SIGMA X, to trade stocks listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

SIGMA X Hong Kong is accessible through Goldman Sachs’ REDIPlus execution management system, third-party trading systems or any system supported by the FIX Protocol. Hong Kong is the second Asian market to be added to SIGMA X. The crossing network was already available in Japan.

“The growth potential of Hong Kong’s market remains significant and we think alternative pools of liquidity will play an important role in its development going forward,” said Gene Reilly, managing director and head of trading and execution for Goldman Sachs in Asia.

Nasdaq OMX and Oslo Børs ignite price war in Norway

Exchange group Nasdaq OMX has revealed plans to start trading equities listed in Norway from 23 March, pitting itself against Oslo Børs, the country’s incumbent exchange. Oslo Børs has returned fire with plans to cut trading fees.

Norway is the only Nordic country where Nasdaq OMX does not dominate equities trading. The group owns the national stock exchanges in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland.

Nasdaq OMX will start by trading the stocks of the 25 largest companies listed in Norway and add the remaining shares in later phases. The Norwegian stocks will be traded on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm, and will be subject to the same trading rules and market surveillance as other shares traded on Nasdaq OMX’s Nordic bourses.

Eurex offers incentives to boost CE Europe trading

European derivatives exchange Eurex, a joint venture between Deutsche Börse and SIX Swiss Exchange, has launched an incentive programme to encourage more trading from brokers in central and eastern European countries. The programme is aimed at traders who have not been active on Eurex and want to expand their proprietary trading in the exchange’s products.

The initiative, an extension of the exchange’s Trader Development Program that was introduced in July 2007, will allow traders in central and Eastern Europe to trade up to 500,000 contracts per location – with a maximum of five locations per member – in a 12-month period without incurring any trading or clearing fees. If members reach the 500,000 threshold in the first 12 months, they will be able to trade 1.5 billion contracts free of charge in the second year.

Patsystems provides DMA to Brazilian derivatives market

Patsystems, a derivatives trading solutions provider, has become an independent software vendor for the derivatives segment of Brazilian exchange BM&F BOVESPA, allowing the firm to offer clients direct market access (DMA) to Brazil's derivatives market.

Patsystems will also enable access to BM&F products via CME Globex, an electronic trading platform operated by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. This will allow CME customers to trade the main BM&F derivatives contracts listed on the Globex platform.

All BM&F segment products will be available through Patsystems’ front-end products, J-Trader and Pro-Mark, and supported by the firm’s pre-trade System and Risk Administration (SARA) module. SARA specifies the order types and risk limits a user can apply, along with appropriate threshold values for issuing alerts.

European equities trading jumped in January – Reuters

The total value of equities traded in Europe increased to EUR 934 billion in January from EUR 821 billion in December, according to data provider Reuters’ monthly European market share report. January volumes were also up, growing to 152 billion shares from 123 billion in December.

European equity values are still below the EUR 982 billion reported by Reuters in November 2008, but volumes are up on November’s 148 billion shares.

In line with the overall increases in January, many exchanges and multilateral trading facilities enjoyed a boost in market share. For example, the London Stock Exchange’s share of the overall value traded in Europe increased to 18.68% in January from 18.58% the previous month, and its share of the volume grew to 41.61% from 37.02%. Chi-X’s value market share grew to 5.08% from 4.71%, and its volume market share increased to 4.05% from 4%. Turquoise’s value market share increased to 2.78% from 1.89%, an

Nomura rebuilds connections to ex-Lehman platform

Nomura has added buy-side trading tools provider TradingScreen to its list of vendor connections in Europe, as the Japanese bank rebuilds links to the electronic trading platform acquired from Lehman Brothers’ European operation last September.

Nomura relaunched the former Lehman platform on 12 January and has rebranded it ModelEx. The ModelEx suite of tools includes direct market access (DMA), smart DMA, algorithms and dark pool services across Europe.

“We took the top tier of software vendors that delivered the previous Lehman Brothers electronic trading suite and are in the process of establishing these connections for our new Nomura offering,” Andrew Bowley, head of electronic trading product management, Nomura, told theTRADEnews.com. “We are now connected to eight software vendors and hope to add more in the near future.” Nomura declined to name the other software vendors.

Burgundy and HKMEx sign up to new surveillance tool

Burgundy, a Nordic multilateral trading facility, and the Hong Kong Mercantile Exchange (HKMEx) have signed up to Scila Surveillance, a new market surveillance tool jointly developed by systems provider Cinnober and technology firm Scila. The firms said the new system can be implemented on any trading system on the market.

Scila Surveillance is designed for exchanges, banks and regulatory bodies. According to the two firms, the focus of their partnership was to develop a solution with a shorter time-to-market, low cost of ownership and improved usability compared with other surveillance systems.

“Confidence is one of the most important assets for any marketplace and where a modern and effective market surveillance tool is a key component”, said Olof Neiglick, CEO of Burgundy, in a statement. “I’m impressed with the Scila system, especially the connectivity solution, which allows for a quick and efficient implementation.”

FIX updates FAST Protocol

FIX Protocol Ltd (FPL), developer of the FIX financial messaging standard, has launched version 1.2 of FIX Adapted for Streaming (FAST) Protocol, its data compression standard.

The new version improves the ability to use FIX with FAST, specifically with regard to enumerations, time stamps and boolean data types. The improvements in the new version have been developed to be fully compatible with FAST version 1.1. According to FPL, the enhancements allow for greater efficiency gains.

The FAST Protocol was developed in response to increasing electronic trading volumes and market data messaging rates. FAST uses techniques such as implicit tagging, field encoding and binary representation of data to reduce message sizes, therefore cutting bandwidth requirements and latency.

Chi-X fees a tenth of European incumbents’ – TowerGroup

Chi-X, a pan-European multilateral trading facility, will continue to siphon liquidity from exchanges because of its low transaction costs – up to a tenth of those charged by the incumbents – according to a new study from research and advisory firm TowerGroup.

The study compared Chi-X’s explicit and implicit trading costs with those of the London Stock Exchange, NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse in both high- and low-volume scenarios from October 2006 to October 2008. All three domestic exchanges combined account for roughly 70% of total European equity trading.

TowerGroup found that in a high-volume scenario, where trading volumes were 500,000 trades a month, worth a total of worth EUR 5 billion, executed on a 50/50 passive/active ratio and with an average trade size of EUR 10,000, the total explicit costs of trading on Chi-X were EUR 50,000, less than a fifth of the LSE’s EUR 258,001 and around a tenth of Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext’s costs of EUR 525,000 and EUR 497,500 respectively. Explicit costs include trading and clearing fees.

nstinet to launch new US dark pool within two months

Instinet, a global agency broker, is scheduled to release a new dark pool in the US within the next two months.

BLX is expected to be a block-only venue which will complement CBX, Instinet’s existing US dark pool. CBX passively exposes orders to Instinet’s US order flow and allows access to its liquidity via algorithms.

In addition to CBX in the US, Instinet also operates JapanCross, KoreaCross and CBX in Asia, as well as BlockMatch, a European non-displayed venue, which does not allow flow from investment banks’ proprietary trading desks and lets clients decide whether or not to display their intentions.

BofA names execution team following Merrill takeover

Bank of America, an investment bank, has named the executives that will run the combined execution team created by the merger with global broker-dealer Merrill Lynch, which it bought last September.

Roger Anerella, head of global execution services, will lead the team. Ashok Krishnan retains responsibility for EMEA execution services and Michael Lynch will lead execution services for Americas, including commission management and NYSE specialists. Jon Werts will manage the firm’s broker-dealer execution services, futures and Instaquote, a direct market access application from Bank of America. Werts will also report to Sylvan Chackman, co-head of global markets financing and futures.

Chi-X Europe CEO to step down

Peter Randall has decided to step down as CEO of pan-European multilateral trading facility (MTF) Chi-X Europe for personal reasons. The company plans to announce a successor in the next few weeks, although it is unclear whether the company is searching internally or externally for Randall’s replacement.

TheTRADEnews.com understands that Randall, who has been involved in Chi-X Europe from its inception in 2005 and played an instrumental role in building and promoting the platform, now wants to take a step back to spend more time with his family. Discussions have taken place with the intention of Randall continuing to support the MTF, most likely in an advisory role.