Chi-X Successfully Begins Full Equity Trading, Clearing and Settlement
Instinet Chi-X(R) Limited, a pan-European equity alternative
trading system (ATS), today announced that it is successfully trading,
clearing and settling the component stocks of the AEX 25 (Dutch) and
DAX 30 (German) indices with the help of Fortis' European Multilateral
Clearing Facility (EMCF) entity, a non-exclusive partner. With this
phase of the Chi-X rollout in place, the integrated system is now the
first to offer trading and clearing services that completely bypass
Europe's existing exchanges and central counterparty infrastructure.
Chi-X will begin trading the component stocks of the FTSE 100
index by the end of Q2. The other major European markets will be
introduced ahead of MiFID later this year. Chi-X has been in live beta
production since November 2006, during this time successfully
executing trades from Instinet's client order flow.
"Chi-X is a completely open and MiFID-compliant trading platform,
allowing institutional and private client investors to access it
through any broker that connects to Chi-X and becomes an accredited
partner," said Tony Mackay, Managing Director of Instinet Chi-X
Limited. "We strive to provide market participants with an attractive
alternative to trading on the incumbent exchanges, and it is also our
intention to make offers of equity ownership to selected
participants."
"Going live with Chi-X is a landmark moment for us, and we look
forward to soon offering our central counterparty services to more
European markets," commented Jan Bart de Boer, Global
Director Brokerage, Clearing & Custody at Fortis on the introduction
of trading, clearing and settlement in these first stocks. "We believe
we will see a number of MTF initiatives in Europe with MiFID as a
catalyst, and have created the 'European Multilateral Clearing
Facility' (EMCF) to offer such MTFs an efficient and cost-effective
pan-European central counterparty. Our clients have been asking for
this, and to date the incumbents have been either unwilling or unable
to provide such a service, so we jumped in."
Chi-X also announced today that Credit Suisse's Advanced Execution
Services (AES) trading desk has successfully begun routing orders to
Chi-X.
"We are thrilled to offer our clients the opportunities that a
radical new service like Chi-X presents," said Richard Balarkas,
Managing Director and Head of AES Sales at Credit Suisse. "We are
confident that increased competition between exchanges and other
venues will deliver improved execution performance and, ultimately,
returns to our clients."
Additionally, as part of Chi-X's open access and non-exclusive
model, Chi-X today announced that BNP Paribas Securities Services has
been approved as a "general clearing participant." BNP Paribas's
participation will offer trading participants a choice of access
provider and at competitive prices.
"It was a natural move for us to be involved in Chi-X. It is a
sign of our commitment to be the leading provider of clearing services
for any trading venues, and it also enables our clients to take
advantage of new trading opportunities resulting from MiFID" said
Patrick Colle, Head of Product - Clearing, Settlement and Custody, at
BNP Paribas Securities Services.
About Chi-X(R)
Instinet Chi-X Limited, an independent subsidiary of Instinet
Europe Limited, is an FSA-authorised securities firm operating as an
Alternative Trading System (ATS) and MTF (Multi-Lateral Trading
Facility under MIFID) for the trading of a wide range of European
equities. Instinet Chi-X is currently available for trading.
Through Chi-X's low-cost, streamlined model, institutional
investors are able to trade European equities and achieve ultra-low
execution, clearing and settlement costs. Both internal and external
benchmark tests showed the Chi-X operating model to be more than 10
times faster and significantly less expensive than Europe's
traditional equity exchanges. Chi-X disseminates market data to
clients directly and via third-party market data vendors at no cost,
and trade reporting will be available for a low monthly fee. For more
information, please visit www.chi-x.com.
About Instinet
Instinet, through its subsidiaries, acts as a global agency
broker, providing the trading expertise and advanced technology
necessary to successfully interact with more than 50 securities
markets worldwide. Acting solely as an agent for its customers,
Instinet seeks to improve institutional investment performance and
lower overall trading costs through its various front-end trading
systems, securities crossing networks, algorithms, commission
management programs and investment research products. The company,
which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nomura Holdings, Inc., is
headquartered in New York and maintains offices in North America,
Europe and the Asia Pacific region. For more information, please visit
www.instinet.com. Instinet conducts its U.S. institutional brokerage
business primarily through Instinet, LLC, member NASD/SIPC.
(C)2007 Instinet, LLC. All rights reserved. INSTINET is a
registered service mark in the United States and in other countries
throughout the world. Approved for distribution in Europe by Instinet
Chi-x Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial
Services Authority. Instinet, LLC, member NASD/SIPC. Instinet Europe
Limited is a subsidiary of Instinet Incorporated.