Nasdaq OMX Europe, a pan-European multilateral trading facility owned by exchange group Nasdaq OMX, began trading in 25 component stocks of the UK’s FTSE 100 share index this morning. The platform will now begin a staggered roll-out of around 600 European securities across 14 markets, which will be completed by the end of October.
The MTF has also introduced the Nasdaq OMX Europe Index, a market-cap-weighted index designed to track the companies traded on its platform. The index will commence calculation with a value of 1500.00 today. It will be calculated in Euros and disseminated every 15 seconds.
Nasdaq OMX Europe is the third full-service MTF to launch in Europe, following Chi-X and Turquoise. However, it is the first exchange-backed MTF to launch.
Compared with other MTFs, Nasdaq OMX Europe’s launch has been quick. It has started operating six months after it was first revealed. Chi-X launched a year after it was announced, and it took Turquoise almost two years from initial announcement to launch. Nasdaq OMX Europe received its licence to operate from the UK’s Financial Services Authority on 8 September.
“We are delighted to deliver our platform on plan within the aggressive timeframe we established,” said Charlotte Crosswell, Nasdaq OMX Europe’s president, in a statement. “We are looking forward to delivering a better trading experience to investors as securities trading moves towards higher volumes executed at faster speeds. With our unique order routing capability, not offered by any other MTF, we have the capability to revolutionise the trading environment in Europe.”
A number of sell-side firms have welcomed the launch of the new MTF and announced connectivity to it. Agency broker Instinet Europe announced this morning that it had completed testing on the new platform, granting its institutional clients immediate access.
“Nasdaq OMX Europe’s launch heralds an important new phase of competition amongst Europe’s traditional exchanges and new MTFs, and should provide improved liquidity and prices to the international trading community,” said Richard Balarkas, CEO of Instinet Europe, in a statement. “As an agency broker whose sole mission is to achieve a high-quality trade execution for our clients, we wish Nasdaq OMX Europe every success.”
Credit Suisse has added the new MTF as a destination on its AES Pathfinder smart order router. “We are excited to offer our clients access to Nasdaq OMX Europe and to be amongst the very first participants to trade on the platform,” said Naseer Al-Khudairi, co-head of cash trading at Credit Suisse.
Others have joined Instinet and Credit Suisse in welcoming Nasdaq OMX Europe. “Nasdaq OMX Europe’s launch is another welcome step towards a competitive market for execution services. We wish them well with this exciting venture and hope their presence contributes to a more resilient pan-European equity market,” said Stephen McGoldrick, director, market infrastructure at Deutsche Bank.
Lee Cook, head of cash equities EMEA at J.P. Morgan added, “In the rapidly changing European trading environment, J.P. Morgan continually monitors liquidity fragmentation and recognises the value Nasdaq OMX Europe will bring to our clients.”