Virt-x, the London-based securities exchange and subsidiary of SWX Group, is marking its fourth anniversary this week with celebrations and the announcement of recent record trading volumes and the processing of its one-millionth UK trade report.
This past April, virt-x turned over £51.6 billion on in Swiss Market Index (SMI) stocks, the highest since its launch in London four years ago. In a news release, virt-x also said it has diversified its business model in response to the changing needs of its members and has implemented a trade reporting service focused on off-orderbook trading in UK securities.
Investment firms use the service to report between 11 and 12 percent of trades Retail Service Providers execute. The platform received its one-millionth UK trade report this month.
The service recognizes the structure of the UK trading environment and the desire of the broker community to trade with competing market makers on a bilateral basis. As a result virt-x has extended its list of securities admitted to trading to include all fully listed UK securities, and introduced two new membership categories to enable brokers focused on the UK domestic market to report their trades to virt-x in a cost effective manner.
“Virt-x has experienced a successful and interesting four years in the London market and having grown our market share in trading SMI stocks in London, we have successfully adapted our business model to include trade reporting facilities, with increased competition in the market forcing price reductions from our competitors,” said Peter Keller, CEO of virt-x, in a statement. “As exchange consolidation takes effect throughout Europe we firmly believe that competition in the market is essential. As an integral part of the competitive exchange landscape in London we are pleased to offer an alternative solution with multiple clearing and settlement choices.”