Pan-European multilateral trading facility (MTF) Chi-X Europe has increased its market share of Spanish equities to 5.05% in April, the first time an alternative exchange has ever breached the 5% mark.
Incumbent primary exchange Bolsas y Mercados Españoles (BME) reported a slight erosion in its share, from 92.7% to 92.05%, while nearest rival Turquoise, the MTF owned by the London Stock Exchange, held 0.63% in April, down from 0.69% in March, according to figures provided by Thomson Reuters.
Chi-X Europe, which was acquired by US trading venue operator BATS Global Markets in November last year, is currently running a price promotion in Spain. Since October, Chi-X Europe has offered a rebate of 0.30 basis points on passive executions for securities in Banco Santander, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, Iberdrola, Industria de Diseño Textil, Repsol and Telefonica. The promotion includes trading, clearing and settlement costs. The MTF's market share in March was 4.36%.
In September 2011, the month before the price promotion started, Chi-X traded just 1.99% of Spanish stocks, while the BME held 96.17% market share.
"More participants have begun to trade Spanish equities with us and they are benefitting from increasing liquidity and competitive pricing via our platform," said Mark Hemsley, BATS Chi-X Europe chief executive. "We expect this positive momentum to continue."
Total Spanish equity market activity decreased from March to April, falling from €43.35 billion to €41.89 billion over the period. Spanish equity market turnover stood at €44.69 billion a year ago.