Euronext has firmed up plans to boost capacity and offer high-speed low-latency trading access for its cash and derivatives markets.
From the third quarter of 2007, Euronext will begin to offer market participants broadband access to both cash and derivatives markets via a high bandwidth line (100 Mbps). This will lead to a more efficient and unrestricted processing of order flows and market data, says the Exchange.
Before the year is out Euronext is also promising to provide co-location facilities for firms to locate their servers near the trading engines in the Exchange's data centres, with the aim of reducing the transit time to the central order book.
The new services are a result of evolutions in trading patterns, such as the growth in algorithmic trading and the popularity of on-screen options markets, for which low latency is key. Similar services are being implementd by exchanges across Europe in advance of new market regulations and requirements for best execution under the MiFID Directive.