The London Stock Exchange (LSE) says charges for its equity trading service in Dutch securities, to be launched on 29 March 2004, will be over 40% cheaper than the new reduced charges to be levied by Euronext.
LSE says it is able to sustain cheaper services because its trading technology has the lowest unit cost compared to other stock exchanges in Europe.
The service will be based on Sets, the Exchange's electronic order book, with central counterparty services provided by Clearnet and settlement provided by Euroclear Netherlands.
All stocks in the AMX and AEX indices, which account for around 90% of trading in the Dutch market, will be available on the Exchange's order book. Trade reporting for off-book business will also be supported.
Clara Furse, chief executive of LSE, says the Dutch market has been demanding a reliable, low cost trading alternative: "By addressing their particular needs with this service, we believe we are offering real choice to the market."
The LSE announced plans to launch a Dutch trading services following Deutsche Börse's move to expand the number of Dutch securities available for trading on its Xetra platform from eight to 25 and reduce clearing fees by 60% to the same level as German stocks.