Instinet, a global agency broker, is scheduled to release a new dark pool in the US within the next two months.
BLX is expected to be a block-only venue which will complement CBX, Instinet’s existing US dark pool. CBX passively exposes orders to Instinet’s US order flow and allows access to its liquidity via algorithms.
In addition to CBX in the US, Instinet also operates JapanCross, KoreaCross and CBX in Asia, as well as BlockMatch, a European non-displayed venue, which does not allow flow from investment banks’ proprietary trading desks and lets clients decide whether or not to display their intentions.
CBX in the US and Asia, as well as BlockMatch in Europe, all provide reciprocal access to Credit Suisse’s Crossfinder dark pool.
Roughly 7-8% of total US equity flow was executed in the dark during 2008, primarily shared between the 18 most active non-displayed venues. Instinet is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, a Japanese-based investment bank.