Within the next few weeks, UK market making firm Winterflood will begin market making on Equiduct, providing a much-needed boost to the pan-European retail-focused market.
Winterflood will add Equiduct to Winner, its platform that makes two-way prices in European stocks across the region's trading venues.
“We are pleased Winterflood has decided to become a market maker on Equiduct and look forward to working with them,” said Peter Randall, Equiduct CEO.
The latest news is an encouraging development for Equiduct, after the planned withdrawal of market making services and investment from its majority shareholder, Citadel.
Equiduct lets retail brokers trade their orders at a price equal to or better than the European best bid and offer.
While Equiduct was slow to get off the ground, the start of market making by Citadel and later Knight Capital - a US broker dealer which also holds a stake in the firm - helped grow volumes on the platform. Sources have told theTRADEnews.com that Knight plans to continue market making on Equiduct for the time being.
Equiduct traded €3.02 billion - or 0.62% of overall European equity trading - in December 2012. So far this month, the platform has traded an average daily value of just over €197 million according to its own figures, beating its 2012 best ADV of €181 million achieved last September.
Doubts over Equiduct's compliance with MiFID were quelled last year, after an investigation by the European Securities and Markets Authority confirmed the venue was operating within the rules.