Aquis Exchange Launches EU-Wide Dark Trading Venue

Aquis Exchange, an operator of the world's only subscription-based trading venues, launched the EU Aquis Matching Pool (AMP) on Monday.

AMP EU is an off-exhange venue that offers dark trading services to countries that comprise the European Union (EU).

Dark trading is the trading of shares or stocks in anonymised ‘dark pools’ or private exchanges where prices are only disclosed after the trading deals have been executed.

London-headquartered Aquis Exchange previously offered dark trading services only in the United Kingdom through its UK AMP service.

The Pan-European cash equities exchange had taken complete charge of UBS MTF, a non-displayed multilateral trading facility (MTF) of the Swiss bank, USB in April.

Upon the complete transfer of the UBS MTF business activities to Aquis Exchange, the trading venue operator renamed it to Aquis Matching Pool.

The launch of the EU AMP means that Aquis Exchange's dark trading services will be available to institutional clients across other financial markets in Europe.

Aquis Exchange in a statement on Monday said AMP EU “complements its existing suite of cost-effective, low market-impact order books and trading services.”

David Stevens, Aquis Exchange’s Chief Revenue Officer, noted that the company was very excited about the launch of the Europe-wide dark trading venue.

“Aquis has built its reputation on being innovative and agile, creating a highly differentiated offering for displayed trading and our aim is to bring these characteristics to dark trading,” Stevens said.

Acqui Exchange, which is the equities trading subsidiary of the Aquis Exchange Group, believes that the introduction of the EU AMP will boost its trading flow, market share and revenue from the dark trading business.

Dark Pools on the Rise?

In 2018, the European Union introduced measures to limit the volume of shares traded in dark pools operated in the region.

Two years later, the European Securities and Markets Authority announced proposed measures to check trading in these off-exchange markets.

One of the state's actions was to cut down on waivers that enable investors to trade in dark pools.

Regardless of this, dark trading has been growing in the UK as the country has been much friendlier towards dark trading, post-Brexit. The UK believes that trading shares in private exchanges can help save money.

To capitalize on the growing market for dark trading among institutional investors in the UK, Aquis Exchange entered a deal with UBS to take charge of its dark pool business, the UBS MTF.

However, Aquis Exchange expressed uncertainty on how dark trading will turn out across the rest of Europe due to opposing regulations from the EU.

Alasdair Haynes, the CEO of Aquis Exchange PLC, told THE TRADE in an interview earlier in the year that the organization was preparing for market changes.

With the launch of EU AMP by Aquis Exchange, there appears to be a growing interest in dark trading across the rest of Europe.

“Dark trading continues to grow in Europe, and we intend for Aquis to be an important player in this market," Stevens said in the statement released on Monday.

"The launch of EU AMP, therefore, represents an important milestone for Aquis as we continue to grow our presence in this space,” he added.