The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has opened up its exchange hosting facility to vendors and service providers to offer its members a wider range of low-latency services.
Exchange hosting was launched in September 2009 and allows high-frequency and algorithmic trading firms to benefit from microsecond access to any of the London Stock Exchange Group's markets, by placing their servers as close as possible to its matching engines.
Following consultations with its customers, the exchange has decided to allow non-trading market participants to offer services such as low-latency market data dissemination and risk management tools.
According to Nigel Harold, product manager, exchange hosting at the LSE, the addition of vendors to the hosting facility will provide benefits for existing hosted and non-hosted exchange members.
“We expect quite a few vendors to offer services to hosted firms, such as managing clients' overall technology footprint within the hosting facility,” Harold told theTRADEnews.com. “In addition, we think a number of trading firms who may have been hosted elsewhere will be able to join with their existing solutions provider, who will also be able to manage their services within our own facility.”
The expansion of the services to technology vendors is part of the LSE's plan to build on its community of low-latency trading firms and offer a wider range of co-location services and trading firms from its hosting centre.
“The next steps in developing the service will include further reductions in latency, additional capacity and offering a wider range of carriers and network providers,” added Harold.
The addition of vendor services will complement the LSE's existing partnership with trading technology provider QuantHouse, which already offers routing and market data services from the hosting facility.
To coincide with the new services, the LSE also plans to add new cabinet space to the facility to meet increased demand at the end of November.