Bank-backed Canadian alternative trading System Alpha Group is to launch a dark liquidity pool for dealers to match best bid and offer prices anonymously in the autumn.
The Alpha IntraSpread facility will enable dealers to seek matches within their firm without pre-trade transparency and with guaranteed price improvement upon the National Best Bid and Offer (NBBO) at the moment of the trade, says the firm.
The release of the system will put further pressure on the TMX which has been steadily losing market share to rival venues. Alpha currently claims a 20% share of Canadian equities trading and believes the new lower cost facility will double its share of trading.
Jos Schmitt, CEO of Alpha Group says IntrSpread will be available to the firm's nine dealer members and 80+ subscribing firms.
"This facility will allow dealers to provide clients, who have tradable orders, with a trade price better than the NBBO of all transparent marketplaces in Canada," he says. "Furthermore, the fees that Alpha ATS will charge for using this facility will be considerably below any of the fees currently applied by any of the marketplaces operating in Canada including Alpha".