Liquidnet offers block trading in Israel

Buy-side crossing network and agency brokerage Liquidnet has expanded its trading operations to include listed securities from Israel, becoming the first block trading venue to offer direct electronic access to a Middle Eastern market.
By None

Buy-side crossing network and agency brokerage Liquidnet has expanded its trading operations to include listed securities from Israel, becoming the first block trading venue to offer direct electronic access to a Middle Eastern market.

The addition of Israel from 1 November follows the incorporation of New Zealand, Mexico, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Slovenia earlier this year, bringing Liquidnet's total number of tradable equities markets to 37 (plus London- and Luxembourg-listed global depository receipts). All Israeli executions will be printed to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange via Liquidnet's partnership with a local broker and exchange member. Liquidnet now provides access to 100% of the MSCI World Index.

“As institutional investors continue to look at newly developed and emerging markets to boost the performance of their investments, they are often restricted by a number of barriers including a lack of liquidity,” said Seth Merrin, founder and CEO of Liquidnet. “By providing access to the broadest global liquidity pool, we are creating unique opportunities for our members to trade in high growth markets throughout the world so that they can deliver better performance to investors.”

John Barker, head of international for Liquidnet, added that bringing countries like Israel, which has just been reclassified by index provider MSCI Barra as a developed market, was essential to the firm's plans for the future.

Liquidnet recently became accessible through agency brokerage Instinet's execution management system (EMS), following an agreement by which Liquidnet's members gained permission to use Instinet's Newport 3 EMS to access Liquidnet's network in September 2010.

«