Shares traded on the MTA and Expandi markets of Italian stock exchange Borsa Italiana have moved over to TradElect, the trading system of the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The LSE and Borsa Italiana merged last year.
Some 320 MTA stocks and 40 Expandi stocks commenced trading on TradElect on Monday. The other Italian markets currently hosted by the Affari platform – Borsa Italiana’s existing trading system – will migrate onto the system in the first half of 2009. MTA is Borsa Italiana’s electronic order book and Expandi is its small and mid-cap market.
According to the LSE, the inclusion of Borsa Italiana stock on TradElect has created Europe’s deepest pool of liquidity.
“The transfer of Italian equities onto TradElect is a major step in the integration of Borsa Italiana and the London Stock Exchange,” said Massimo Capuano, deputy chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, in a statement. “Our Italian member firms in particular will benefit from improved system performance and the opportunity to employ new technical trading strategies which have been driving record volume growth in London.”
He added, “In creating Europe’s largest pool of liquidity, we anticipate that our network of 500 equity trading members will drive tighter spreads and a lower cost of capital, to the benefit of investors and companies.”
In preparation for the launch, Italian customers have had access to test environments for the last five months. Following four weekend market-wide dress rehearsals, Italian market participants self-certified their readiness for yesterday’s launch.
The LSE said TradElect’s technology allows new products and services to be introduced to the market more quickly. There are several updates planned for the coming months. These include the launch of a FIX interface to TradElect and a FAST streaming data broadcast channel from Infolect – the LSE’s market data platform; the launch of the world’s first combined cash equities and contracts for difference market; new order types on the SETS order book; and improved market efficiency and risk management for market participants on the London Stock Exchange’s international order book with the introduction of a central counterparty.