BATS Europe, the multilateral trading facility (MTF) operated by US-based exchange group BATS Global Markets, has set a rollout schedule for its Market On Close after-hours trading service, starting with FTSE 100 stocks.
From 2 October, BATS will offer after-close trading in the UK’s blue chip index, charged at 0.1 basis points.
The new service will make BATS Europe the first MTF to compete with primary exchanges for trading after the market close. The ‘market on close’ order type will allow the MTF’s members to enter orders throughout the trading day that will be executed when the official closing price of the primary exchange is published, while the ‘trading at last’ order type will allow participants to continue entering orders for immediate execution at the closing price, where liquidity is available.
Other European blue chip indices will be added to the service at a later date.
“With the new service, BATS Europe is making markets better by offering market participants an alternative to primary exchange closing auctions and at a significantly lower rate,” said BATS Europe CEO Mark Hemsley.
BATS launched an inverted pricing schedule for FTSE 100 stocks at the start of September, which rebates members 0.4 basis points for adding liquidity and charges 0.2 bps for removing liquidity. On the first day of the promotion, it recorded a 5.96% market share of the FTSE 100 index, its fifth best day since the MTF launched at the end of last October. BATS’ market share of the index the week before the pricing promotion averaged 4.11%.