Citi has confirmed that it plans to launch its internal crossing service in Singapore as the firm continues to build its electronic trading capabilities in Asia.
Citi's dark pool, Citi Match, is scheduled to go live in Singapore in early 2011 according to Ben Valentine, head of electronic execution sales trading, Asia-Pacific, Citi.
“As electronic trading trends in Asia move closer to those seen in Europe, a key priority for us is developing this segment of the business in the Asian region,” Valentine told theTRADEnews.com.
The Singapore version of Citi Match will execute orders in a similar fashion to the other Asia-Pacific markets in which the dark pool operates. Citi's own algorithms will have the option of posting liquidity into the pool and orders will match at the mid-point price displayed on the domestic exchange.
The launch of Citi Match in Singapore will come shortly after the introduction of Chi-East, a dark pool joint venture between the Singapore Exchange and market centre operator Chi-X Global, which is due to go live before the end of the year.
Citi Match is currently available for the Australian, Hong Kong and Japanese markets, but Singapore could mark the last launch of the dark pool in the Asian region for some time.
“Outside of Singapore, we do not anticipate launching in any other Asian markets in the near future because of the regulatory requirements in these countries,” said Valentine.