CITI LAVAFLOW ECN ADDS ‘HIDE TO COMPLY’ ORDER TYPE

Posted September 22, 2009

NEW YORK – Citi’s LavaFlow ECN has introduced a new order type, Hide to Comply, an execution instruction that allows liquidity providers to enter displayable limit orders at aggressive prices and obtain the best possible time priority at the order’s posted price level, all while receiving a rebate.

Hide to Comply adjusts aggressively priced orders such that they are hidden on entry, and their limit price set to the opposite side of the national best bid and offer (NBBO). While hidden at this price, the order will be eligible for a full rebate. When the NBBO updates such that the order is no longer at a locking price, the order will be displayed at this new limit, maintaining its original time priority; the order will not be re-priced.

“Citi’s LavaFlow ECN is continually creating advanced functionality and Hide to Comply is the latest example of our commitment to enhancing the product to meet the best price and execution needs of our customers,” says Shane Swanson, Head of Transaction Services, Lava. “Hide to Comply, along with other features we have launched this year, is one of the many ways we provide industry leading functionality to the trading community.”

The introduction of Hide to Comply is the latest in a series of enhancements to the LavaFlow ECN. In April, LavaFlow introduced a new type of pegged order: the Price Improvement Peg (PIP). A PIP instruction can be added to any LavaFlow pegged order and allows the PIP to execute at the best possible price within its limit, while observing price and time priority for other LavaFlow orders.