33% of buy side traders in Western Europe are currently connected to crossing networks, with that number set to increase to nearly 45% by 2010.
Although UK-based traders generate the majority of order flow through crossing networks, in two years Western Europe will generate more than half of the total value traded through crossing networks.
As new trading venues come online, MiFID will help drive order flow toward these new sources of liquidity because they can help satisfy holistic best execution requirements. Crossing networks will provide some relief toward the buy sides liquidity concerns; however, they will create an increasingly fragmented market structure.