Barclays has confirmed it will continue reporting monthly aggregate data from its US dark pool LX citing the industry benefits of greater transparency, a month after rival dark pool operator Credit Suisse ceased relaying similar data.
Barclays provides market participants - most notably Rosenblatt Securities and the TABB Group, with data which feed reports on US dark trading. In April, Credit Suisse said it would no longer issue these firms data from its Crossfinder dark pool, which will reduce the accuracy of dark trading statistics published by Rosenblatt and TABB.
Yesterday's confirmation from Barclays was to assure customers and the wider industry that the firm continues to see value in publishing these stats, said Bill White, head of equities electronic trading, Barclays.
Speaking to theTRADEnews.com, White said clients had shown a desire to have data published to form comparisons on competing dark pools and to see which products and services had proved successful in the market.
"We want to maintain our dark pool volume reporting because we believe the market benefits from an appropriate level of transparency. Clients want to know which pools are relevant and which are attracting liquidity," White said.
Another motivation for Barclays will be publicity - as its LX dark pool has risen to prominence in the US with consistent and high monthly volume statistics. In April, LX reported and average daily volume of 99 million shares, representing US$6.6 billion in average daily notional value traded.