The Börse Berlin (Berlin Stock Exchange) announced on Tuesday that it has, through a capital increase, acquired a majority stake in EASDAQ NV, which operates under the trading name Equiduct. The aim of this transaction is to form a partnership to take advantage of the opportunities that the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) offers. The combination of Börse Berlin and London-based Equiduct will offer existing and future clients access to trading in a broad category of European financial instruments.
Precise details of the parties’ service offering will be released to customers and to the public in due course, say the firms.
Equiduct and Börse Berlin share the conviction that the introduction of MiFID will provoke large-scale changes in European financial markets. The partners say they will seek to address the opportunities created by MiFID to deliver increased value to banks and investment firms, and ultimately to their professional and retail customers. Equiduct has an electronic trading system with a unique market model, whilst Börse Berlin, as a regulated market, currently offers its clients access to the broadest range of securities and has experience in secondary exchange trading.
“Financial market participants are facing drastic changes as a result of new MiFID requirements, which we believe will finally create a competitive level playing field for exchanges and trading facilities,” says Artur Fischer, executive director, strategy, Börse Berlin. “In the future, customers will have the right to demand best execution from their intermediary. Best execution will require that the intermediary takes into account all execution venues, instead of just the domestic exchange. Through this partnership, we will be able to provide a
market that will allow us to carve out a competitive position as a full-service pan-European exchange,” he continues.
“Over the last year we have implemented MiFID-specific requirements in close collaboration with various buy- and sell-side firms across Europe,” says Rob Brouwer, CIO, Equiduct. “The partnership with the Berlin Stock Exchange allows us to establish a new pan-European exchange, which will enable our users to take full advantage of the new MiFID environment. Together, we look forward to our part in shaping the future of Europe’s financial markets,” he states.