BIDS Trading, an alternative trading system (ATS) for US equity blocks, has released trading volumes for its first year in the market.
In the last 12 months, over 4 billion shares have been traded on BIDS, with the average daily volume topping 22.6 million shares in March 2008 (both figures were double-counted, to include both sides of the transaction).
During this time, the platform has connected to 14 order management systems and execution management systems.BIDS Holdings, the parent company of BIDS Trading, is also at an advanced stage in developing its joint venture with NYSE Euronext, which is scheduled to launch in summer 2008. The partnership plans to bring together displayed, non-displayed and reserve liquidity in an effort to address market fragmentation.
The BIDS Trading ATS is accessible to both buy-side and sell-side firms that want to trade blocks through continuous order matching and trade negotiation. Market participants can choose to auto-execute their order or negotiate, set their minimum block size to help protect their order, and filter counterparties based on past trading behaviour.
“We have surpassed our own expectations during our first year of operation, and we are very encouraged with the growing number of clients who continue to support BIDS Trading as an efficient platform for anonymously trading blocks of equities,” said Tim Mahoney, CEO of BIDS Trading, in a statement. “In our second year, we intend to further concentrate our efforts on continuing to connect to the buy-side, in order to provide an open, low-cost platform that includes both the buy-side and sell-side.”