FSA APPROVES LONDON EXCHANGE’S BAIKAL PAN-EUROPEAN MTF VENUE

Posted June 29, 2009

LONDON – The UK’s Financial Services Authority has granted regulatory approval to Baikal, the pan-European multi-lateral trading facility dark pool and liquidity aggregation service from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group. Rollout of the trading platform will begin this week.

The LSE Group plans a phased rollout of Baikal with this week’s launch of its Smart Order Routing (SOR) capability, to be followed by order book, and other functionalities later this year.

“In line with our ambitious launch timetable, we have delivered the first part of Baikal’s solution for aggregating liquidity and solving the challenges of market fragmentation,” says Xavier Rolet, Chief Executive of the LSE Group. “We look forward to building on this important milestone with the launch of the non-display order book and further liquidity aggregation services later in the year.”

The launch of Baikal’s SOR service will help customers overcome fragmentation by providing best execution across 17 major European equity trading venues in 14 countries via one entry point, one connection and one clearing arrangement. At launch, Baikal’s SOR service will route business in 6,500 equities and exchange traded funds. OTC settlement will be provided by BNP Paribas Securities Services, saving customers the need for multiple clearing house memberships and associated margin calls.