Trading Venues

August US equity trading dipped to the lowest level so far this year, while minor shifts occurred in venue market share.

Direct Edge formally ended their excess order fee after just three months of operation last Tuesday, with data showing the charge had no impact on the number of messages received by the New Jersey-based stock exchange.

SBI Japannext, a proprietary trading system for Japanese equities, overtook the Osaka Securities Exchange for equity trading last month for the first time, as trading on alternative venues in the country continues to grow.

As trading volumes continue to register a fraction of years past, BATS Chi-X Europe has been unable to hold on to their market share.

Market operator Chi-X Global will introduce a new alternative trading system in Canada next year to maintain market share following the takeover of domestic exchange operator TMX Group.

European equity market volumes reached the lowest level yet seen this year in July, but dark trading increased by almost 10%, according to figures provided by Thomson Reuters.

Pan-European equities market operator BATS Chi-X Europe has put Adam Eades and John Woodman on its board of directors as executive director and independent non-executive director, respectively.

Global exchange operator NYSE Euronext has struck a raw industry nerve with its recently approved Retail Liquidity Program that is set to start its 12-month run on 1 August, if the volume and tone of comment letters on the pilot filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission are a proper gauge of concern.

The prospect of greater choice between US equity options exchanges is being treated with caution by market observers who claim that fragmentation is already making execution more difficult, especially for deals in institutional size.

After last month's troubled Facebook IPO, representatives from leading US equity exchange operators called for market-wide reforms to restore investor confidence at the SIFMA Tech Leadership Forum in New York.