BATS Europe, a pan-European multilateral trading facility, has completed conformance testing with agency broker Instinet Europe and received FSA approval ahead of its launch at the end of this month.
Instinet Europe clients will have access to BATS Europe from 31 October, when 10 UK securities will be available for trading. All London Stock Exchange, NYSE Euronext and Xetra securities are scheduled for trading on the BATS Europe platform from 19 November.
The platform is nearing the end of its testing phase and now has FSA permission to start operating as a European multilateral trading facility.
“From the moment BATS Europe goes live, Instinet’s global client base will be able to access it via sales traders, direct market access or through our Instinet Execution Experts algorithms,” said Richard Balarkas, CEO of Instinet Europe. “In less than three years, BATS has carved out a significant market share in the US. With the European equities markets in the midst of considerable change, BATS’ arrival in Europe seems certain to further shake up competition between the traditional exchanges and the new MTFs.”
Mark Hemsley, CEO of BATS European markets division, added: “We are confident that access to our liquidity will offer price improvement opportunities for Instinet’s global client base and we look forward to working with the Instinet team.”