Knight Capital Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: NITE) today announced the launch of Direct Edge ECN, formerly the ATTAIN ECN.
Knight completed the acquisition of the business of the ATTAIN ECN from Domestic Securities, Inc., a privately held company, and certain of its shareholders, following the close of business on October 21, 2005.
Under Knight's ownership, the goal for Direct Edge ECN is to operate as a liquidity destination providing its participants with anonymous, industry- leading fulfillment rates at competitive prices. The Direct Edge ECN offers the ability to match trades in Nasdaq National Market and Nasdaq SmallCap securities by displaying orders in either the NASDAQ Market Center or the NASD Alternative Display Facility. Direct Edge ECN's market participant identifiers (MPID) will be EDGA for NASD Alternative Display Facility and EDGX for Nasdaq Market Center.
"We are proud to offer our clients and the marketplace an alternative liquidity destination, especially as consolidation among exchanges, market centers and ECNs has diminished alternatives," said Thomas M. Joyce, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Knight Capital Group. "Like other Direct Edge ECN clients, I expect Knight's broker-dealer subsidiaries to contribute liquidity, and our hope is that the value of Direct Edge ECN grows with increased participation. The Direct Edge ECN team also is working on enhancements to the platform, including broader market access and intelligent routing capabilities. We expect Direct Edge ECN to become an important component of Knight's offering, complementing our proven expertise in the high quality execution of market orders with fast, anonymous execution of limit orders."