JP Morgan is joining Nyse Euronext, HSBC and BNP Paribas as a partner in SmartPool, the pan-European electronic block trading platform set to launch in November.
SmartPool is a multilateral trading facility (MTF) providing a dark pool for the execution of large institutional order flow in stocks from 14 European countries. The system will be accessible to all European sell-side firms.
It is currently in testing with clients and clearing partners LCH.Clearnet and EuroCCP. The testing is expected to be completed by the end of the month before a soft launch in November. The system is expected to offer trading in all 14 European markets before the end of the year - subject to FSA approval.
Explaining the move, Lee Cook, head, cash equities, Emea, JP Morgan, says: "Current market trends towards smaller execution sizes on central order books, and increasing market fragmentation re-enforces the need for these venues as Europe's market structure continues to evolve."
The partners say SmartPool will be linked with Nyse Euronext's "light pool", profiting from the efficient price formation and liquidity of its existing central order book. In the future it will also route to other pools.
It will take advantage of Nyse Euronext technology and existing connectivity linking Euronext with its main European sell-side users, enabling firms to connect to SmartPool from its launch.