Fidessa develops block trading tool for placing multiple orders

BlockShadow service provides users with the chance to interact with multiple block trading venues.

Fidessa has launched a new service aimed at allowing institutional investors to place multiple conditional block trade orders across the various venues  that have emerged under MiFID II.

BlockShadow oversees the order process once a conditional match is found by pausing a second worker algo until volume is released, and then firming up on behalf of the user. 

The new service ensures the best possible execution outcome with zero over-fill risk, according to Fidessa, as market participants are now forced to monitor and interact with multiple new venues, as well as their traditional sources of liquidity.

MiFID II limits activities of trading on dark pool venues and has banned the use of broker crossing networks. In response to this, several new block trading venues like Cboe LIS  and Turquoise Plato have emerged to facilitate execute large block trades.

Robert Barnes, CEO of the London Stock Exchange Group’s Turquoise, said that services like Fidessa’s BlockShadow are able to manage conditional messages while working algorithmic orders.

“This means Fidessa clients can now access award winning services like Turquoise Plato Block Discovery for large in scale (LIS) business while working firm orders below LIS on innovations like Turquoise Lit Auctions to achieve the best result on a continuous basis, the very definition of best execution,” he added.  

BlockShadow was developed in partnership with equities broker Redburn, one of Fidessa’s longest standing clients, and allowed the firm to interact with various block trading venues.

Will Winzor-Saile, execution architect at Redburn, explained the service not only allowed for interaction with the venues, but also offered a broader spectrum of liquidity.

“Since going live with BlockShadow the additional volume from Turquoise, Cboe and Euronext has meant larger fill sizes, reduced market impact and better performance across all of our trading,” he said.

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