Investment bank Merrill Lynch executed in excess of one hundred million shares through its smart order router on pan-European multilateral trading facility Chi-X Europe on 17 July 2008.
Yvonne Hansmann, managing director and head of EMEA execution sales, Merrill Lynch, told theTRADEnews.com that the investment bank had seen a significant rise in the amount of order flow directed to Chi-X in the last few weeks.
“Flow going to Chi-X still represents a minority percentage of our overall flow,” said Hansmann. “However, Thursday’s number clearly ?demonstrated the growing importance of alternative venues such as Chi-X and the importance of using a broker with an efficient smart order router.”
UBS said that 15% of its on-market trades are traded through Chi-X, in the European markets where the MTF offers prices.
Merrill Lynch estimates that clients can save “in excess of three basis points of market impact” by using its smart order routing technology.
“The price improvement is due to a combination of our smart order router’s ability to detect the best venue at very low latency rates and the improved speed, capacity, tighter spreads and dark order types offered by destinations such as Chi-X,” said Hansmann.