BATS Europe Dark Pool Launch Set

BATS Europe has announced that its dark pool will launch on August 7, 2009.

The European MTF will offer market-taker pricing, with a rebate of 0.1 basis points to participants that add liquidity and charge 0.25 basis points to those that remove liquidity in the dark pool.

BATS Europe’s dark pool will begin participant testing on July 20 after concluding discussions with the Financial Services Authority (FSA).

In a statement, Mark Hemsley, CEO of BATS Europe, said, “We are pleased with the progress of BATS Europe's unique dark pool offering and look forward to going live in August. Participants will be able to receive rebates on posted liquidity and enjoy low rates for removing liquidity, consistent with our approach of offering first class markets with aggressive fee structures.”

The dark pool will be separate from BATS Europe’s current integrated book, which combines visible and hidden orders. Participants can send orders to the dark pool using existing FIX handlers with orders hidden and executed at the midpoint of the best bid and offer on the primary market.

The BATS Europe FIX specification now includes the dark pool instructions.