Instinet BlockMatch
BlockMatch is Instinet’s continuous dark multilateral trading facility for European equities that allows clients to match on its bid, offer or mid-point order books, each of which references the firm’s consolidated european best bid and offer feed. Operated in Instinet’s agency-only environment, BlockMatch is fully closed with no IOIs sent, orders routed or quotes displayed in public markets. |
Functionality and order types
BlockMatch supports most advanced order types,
including pegging, minimum fill and time-in-force, on each of its three order
books. Resting orders are processed strictly by price/time priority.
Access and participation
BlockMatch is available through Instinet Europe to
institutional clients and carefully vetted sell-side participants. The platform
can be accessed via Instinet’s front-end trading platforms, through its
algorithms/smart router, direct FIX connection or through myriad third-party
providers.
Instruments traded
BlockMatch offers trading in Austrian, Belgian,
Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Irish, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese,
Swedish, Spanish, Swiss and UK equities
Order protection
Instinet
monitors all activity for suspicious trading patterns, and provides advanced
order functionality, such as minimum fill orders, to enable clients to set
their own anti-gaming parameters. Instinet encourages clients to access all
dark pools—including BlockMatch—through its execution experts suite of
algorithms, which use sophisticated submission tactics and anti-gaming logic to
avoid predictable trading patterns other market participants could exploit.
Connectivity/sharing agreements
Instinet has worked to obtain reciprocal dark pool
access arrangements with as many parties as possible. However, Instinet
provides access to its own dark pools and third parties through its product
suite only. There are no linkages between any of Instinet’s dark pools with any
third parties; its venues are fully closed.
Future developments
Instinet is continually enhancing its entire
trading platform, but does not publicly disclose specific plans for competitive
reasons. Clients are encouraged to speak with their Instinet representative to
learn more about BlockMatch’s roadmap.