Financial exchanges operator Bats Global Markets Inc (BATS:BATS) Europe and BIDS Trading LP (BIDS), a block trading ATS by volume in the U.S., have announced that Bats Europe has agreed to license BIDS technology to launch Bats LIS, a new block trading service for the European equity market.
Bats LIS (Large in Scale), which is subject to regulatory approval, is a large in scale indication of interest (IOI) negotiation and execution platform that will allow market participants to negotiate large blocks in European equities without revealing their intentions to the wider market. Bats LIS will leverage BIDS’ highly-regarded software, BIDS Trader, and buy-side channel distribution, combined with Bats’ infrastructure required for trade execution, clearing and settlement.
BIDS Trader seamlessly integrates with a buy-side trader’s Order Management System (OMS) and Execution Management System (EMS), so buy-side traders interested in utilising Bats LIS can do so in a manner in which they are accustomed to through their existing BIDS Trader GUI. Direct participants of the Bats Europe Exchange can also connect to Bats LIS via their existing Bats physical connections.
Bats LIS is designed to provide buy-side traders with protection against information leakage surrounding their IOIs through several unique features. First, Bats LIS provides a designated broker model which allows buy-side traders to maintain their important relationships with their brokers. It also brings together the block flow of both the buy and the sell-side, allowing for greater crossing opportunities.
Additionally, IOI disclosure and interaction is controlled by the buy-side dealer via customisable trading tools, including minimum block size and counterparty scorecarding and filtering based on past trading behaviour.
Mark Hemsley, Bats Global Markets
Mark Hemsley, CEO of Bats Europe, said:
We’ve listened to the buy-side community in Europe and understand their unique challenges in trading large blocks of stock and we believe that our new LIS service will help them better execute their large in scale trading activity. A complement to our existing order book offerings, Bats LIS provides the buy-side with a MiFID II compliant platform that offers IOI protection tools and full control over their IOI until execution to protect against information leakage.”
Tim Mahoney, CEO of BIDS Trading, commented:
Global clients want global solutions. Partnering with Bats Europe allows each of us to bring our core strengths together to provide another piece of the global block trading market to our mutual clients in an efficient manner. Maintaining the important relationships between the buy-side and their brokers and successfully integrating the flows of each on one platform have been the keys to BIDS’ success in the U.S. Partnering with Bats Europe allows us to extend those benefits under the umbrella of the largest Recognised Investment Exchange in Europe.”