Block Interest Discovery Service (BIDS Trading) announced yesterday that Bank of America, Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and Knight Capital Group have invested in its recently formed alternative trading system (ATS), designed to increase competition and liquidity in the equity block trading market. The ATS is due to be launched later this month.
The six new firms join the original founding firms; Citi, Goldman Sachs, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley and UBS, bringing the total number of investors in BIDS Trading to twelve.
“We are pleased to have six of the world’s leading financial services firms join the group of partners that have invested in BIDS Trading,” says Larry Leibowitz of UBS, speaking on behalf of the founding firms. “Their commitment to the success of BIDS Trading will enhance the BIDS ATS by bringing together both the buy-side and sell-side to create a level playing field for the trading of large blocks.”
The BIDS ATS, which will offer users an electronic trading solution to anonymously execute block trades, is expected to launch in the Spring of 2007.
“This level of industry support prior to our launch validates our model and helps build tremendous momentum in advance of the launch of the BIDS ATS,” comments BIDS’ Chief Executive Officer Timothy Mahoney. “We are confident that our model will empower traders by giving them the tools they need to successfully execute block trades,” he adds.
The BIDS ATS will be accessible to both the buy-side and sell-side firms that want to trade large blocks through continuous order matching and trade negotiation. Use of the BIDS ATS as a block trading service will not be exclusive or subject to volume commitment and each participant may continue to use any ATS, ECN or exchange service that supports the trading needs of its customer base.