Dutch retail-focused trade platform The Order Machine (TOM) has started trading Dutch equities on its multilateral trade facility, TOM MTF, which is now open to third parties in addition to founders BinckBank and Optiver.
Initially, the members of TOM MTF will be Dutch investment firm ABR Financial, high-frequency trading firm IMC, electronic market maker Optiver and TOM Smart Execution. BinckBank will have its customer orders sent to the smart order router of TOM Smart Execution, which has the ability to execute client orders on TOM MTF or on mainstream trade venue NYSE Euronext Amsterdam, a feature intended to fulfil the best execution requirements of MiFID.
TOM originated in 2009 as a joint venture between Optiver and BinckBank. It consists of TOM MTF, the trading platform, and TOM Smart Execution, which is designed to seek out the best price at which a retail order can be executed across a variety of trading platforms and route the order correspondingly.
ABN AMRO Clearing Bank acquired a 25% stake in TOM's share capital in July 2010.
“The launch of the MTF is a milestone for both TOM and its members,” said Willem Meijer, CEO of TOM. “Market participants in the Netherlands now have a serious alternative to execute their transactions at substantially lower costs. Furthermore, banks and brokers will now have the opportunity to compare prices on various exchanges for their retail customers.”