SmartPool Announces Record Volume Growth in May

European dark pool created by NYSE Euronext said it's now the third largest dark MTF offering in Europe overall.

SmartPool, the European dark liquidity pool created by NYSE Euronext in partnership with HSBC, J.P. Morgan and BNP Paribas, reported record growth in May volumes, and claims to be the third largest dark multilateral trading facility (MTF) offering in Europe overall.

SmartPool’s matched volume of 2.6 billion euros in May represents a 374 percent increase on April, making SmartPool the fastest-growing MTF in Q2 so far, considerably ahead of BATS Europe and Liquidnet, according to the company’s release. The number of trades also increased by 367 percent. SmartPool also had the largest average trade size of the top three MTFs in Europe, stated the release.

According to the Thomson Reuters Equity Market Share Service, SmartPool reported dark market share of 16% of MSCI EMU Large Cap Index, 14.8% of the Dow Jones STOXX 600 and 18.3% of the DJ STOXX 50 during May.

SmartPool also set records in a number of national markets. Key dark market share highlights over this period include: 27.3% market share in Xetra Dax and 19.2% market share in FTSE 100.

In a statement, Lee Hodgkinson, SmartPool CEO commented: “I'm personally grateful to our customers across Europe for the trust and confidence they have placed in us. Thanks to their support, during May, one in every eight European dark trades took place on SmartPool, demonstrating that SmartPool is fast becoming the dark trading community of choice.

Hodgkinson said today’s announcement marks a significant milestone in SmartPool’s objective to create a dark pool champion focused on delivering the deepest and broadest pool of liquidity in Europe. “By leveraging the NYSE Euronext franchise and substantial client distribution network, no other market operator can match our scale and this advantage is difficult for our rivals to replicate,” he stated in the release. “With liquidity in the pool building, we are well positioned to continue our upward trajectory."

Ivy is Editor-at-Large for Advanced Trading and Wall Street & Technology. Ivy is responsible for writing in-depth feature articles, daily blogs and news articles with a focus on automated trading in the capital markets. As an industry expert, Ivy has reported on a myriad ... View Full Bio