Quote MTF has confirmed that it is in discussion with a consortium of investment banks and trading firms over plans to give away a 40% stake in return for liquidity guarantees.
Entering the crowded post-MiFID market last September, Quote MTF is 60% owned by BRMS Holding, a Canadian firm that also has a stake in Omega ATS. The remaining 40% is currently held by management, staff and partners.
The MTF started touting for liquidity partners in September and now confirms that its has entered into a process of information sharing, due diligence and negotiation with the market making divisions from three top tier banks and four electronic liquidity providers and principal trading firms.
Christian Bower, global head of sales, Quote MTF, comments: "While we are still at an early stage in our discussions, there is positive momentum and we believe that Quote MTF subscribers will benefit significantly from a gradual increase in passive liquidity by year-end as the liquidity providers work towards an official launch date of 4th April 2011."
He says the firm requires only a fraction of of Europe's liquidity to break even. The company has also moved to cap commission fees for all investors who sign up for the service before 1 Jan 2011, at €14,000 for a year.
The scramble for liquidity in the fragmented European equity markets is likely to become more intense over the coming months, with rumours that Goldman Sachs is on the hunt for a chief executive to head up a new dark pool trading facility. Dow Jones yesterday reported that Goldman approached a number of trading technology suppliers over the summer to purchase a trading platform for the nascent MTF and has acquired a Market Identifier Code for the platform from financial messaging agency Swift.