Omega ATS Extends Fee-Free Trading of Fixed Income

Canada’s Omega ATS has extended no-fee trading of fixed-income instruments and listed debentures, according to the company’s announcement today.

The low-latency alternative trading system (ATS) will also allow brokers to match internal crosses free of charge indefinitely in an aggressive pricing model that challenges Omega’s competitors. This announcement follows the Omega’s December 2010 move to become the first protected market place in Canada to trade liquid unlisted fixed income instruments.

In a statement, Omega ATS President, Mike Bignell comments: “We’re genuinely interested in creating a more cost effective and efficient market in Canada and one of the steps in doing so was to become the only marketplace to offer fixed income trading at a reasonable fee. By offering a fee holiday on debt securities we hope to increase interest in trading these instruments transparently, facilitating a revolution in the Canadian marketplace by equipping investors with visibility they are unable to get with any other venue.” Unlisted fixed income instruments and listed debentures have been free to trade since Omega first added them to the roster in December 2010. The fee holiday was originally scheduled to end on January 1 2011, but Omega has extended to through February 15 2011. When the venue introduces fees, it will be at the reduced rate of $5 CDN per $100,000 CDN principal on the active take side and free for liquidity providers, making Omega the most inexpensive and competitively priced trading venue in the marketplace, the company asserts in its release. Omega ATS says it remains the most aggressively priced and fastest growing trading venue in the Canadian marketplace. “Omega ATS is the cheapest venue among the ATS in Canada by far and volumes have shot up 750 percent over the year so they are no longer the littlest fish!,” writes a spokesman for the ATS in the media advisory. The company continues to invest in new technologies and plans to add several new instrument categories, products and innovative trade types throughout 2011, states the release.

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