US stock exchange Direct Edge has announced plans to enhance both its EDGA and EDGX platforms with the introduction of new order types and routing strategies.
The new functionality will be available on EDGA from 22 February and EDGX from 28 February.
The venue plans to add ROBY, a new routing strategy that accesses BATS Exchange's BYX order book exclusively after checking for liquidity on the EDGA or EDGX book. As soon as all resting liquidity in the book is exhausted, the remaining shares will be routed as an immediate-or-cancel order to BYX.
Direct Edge will also add BYX to its ROUC trading strategy, which sources liquidity across dark trading venues before routing to displayed markets. For shares executed at BYX, ROUC will rebate users US$0.0003 – a move designed to allow users to minimise high transaction fees by prioritising low-fee venues in the routing table. In addition, members will have the ability to send market ROUC orders on both EDGA and EDGX, while the introduction of a new ROOC routing strategy gives members the opportunity to participate in the market opening and closing auctions at all listed exchanges for the first time.
The changes to routing capabilities will be complemented by the introduction of new order functionality. Pending approval from US regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission, EDGA is adding a new order type designed to increase execution rates by gaining exposure to increased liquidity. Midpoint discretionary orders are designed to allow members to interact with two different types of inbound order flow – those crossing the spread and those looking to hit the midpoint.
In a bid to gain market share, Direct Edge recently selected a trio of high-speed offerings from technology vendors to reduce latency and cut costs.
The venue also launched a suite of connectivity services that provide market data feeds and direct market access to all major US exchange via firms' Direct Edge connections, in November 2010.