Burgundy, the regional multilateral trading facility (MTF) for Nordic securities, saw its average daily turnover in January hit EUR59.1 million, an increase of 40%. Smartpool, the European dark MTF created by NYSE Euronext in partnership with HSBC, J.P.Morgan and BNP Paribas, also reported record trading volumes in January, up 33% month-on-month.
The average number of trades per day on Burgundy in January hit 10,161, an increase of 80%. Olof Neiglick, CEO of Burgundy said: We are happy to see that the number of trades reached a new level in January. We have seen a small increase in trading in the other Nordic countries; Finland, Norway and Denmark but they are still at testing levels and we expect them to get started during 2010.
SmartPool’s increased matched volume to EUR310m in January. The number of trades also increased by 51% compound to over 47,000 in January. According to the Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Service, SmartPool reported dark market share highs of 8.1% of MSCI EMU Large Cap Index and 7.1% of the Dow Jones STOXX 600 on 13 January, with an average dark market share of 2.9% during January.
Although Burgundy posted strong volumes in Sweden, SmartPool made inroads into the Nordic region, obtaining a 8.8% market share in Nasdaq OMX Copenhagen 20 Index, a 4.6% market share in Nasdaq OMX Helsinki 25, and a 4.5% market share in the Nasdaq OMX Stockholm 30 Index.
Although December is generally a quiet month for trading volumes, and January volumes would be expected to be up month-on-month, both Burgundy and Smartpool have been proactive in developing their respective business in a competitive MTF market. Sanford C. Bernstein, the Global Wealth Management arm of AllianceBernstein, recently became the first U.S. trading participant to join Burgundy. Burgundy also recently selected SIX x-clear as its alternative CCP service provider. SIX x-clear and EMCF are the interoperable CCPs for Burgundy. Smartpool recently completed the migration to NYSE Euronexts next-generation Universal Trading Platform on 23 November 2009.
Lee Hodgkinson, SmartPool CEO commented: We are very pleased with our trading volumes and the progress we have made since November 2009, when we announced a number of enhancements to the SmartPool value proposition. Our migration to NYSE Euronexts Universal Trading Platform, the absorption of NYFIX Euro Millennium, our growing community of users and our expansion into the small and mid-cap space all have converged to create significant momentum for our business. With liquidity in the pool building and a number of new customers scheduled to onboard in the coming months, we look forward to working in partnership with our customers and service partners on further innovation and volume growth during 2010.”