Tactico Takes 24 Percent Equity Stake in Omega ATS

Canadian ATS has tripled its volume in the past two months, with its low-cost pricing model and connectivity, said Tactico.

With the competitive landscape shifting in Canada, Tactico Inc. has purchased a 24 percent equity stake in Omega ATS, an alternative trading system for Canadian listed equities.

Omega’s volume has tripled in the past two months now that it has signed up 70 subscribers including the eight founding members of rival Alpha Trading Systems— BMO, Nesbit Burns Inc., Canaccord Capital Inc., CIBC World Markets Inc., Desjardins Securities Inc., National Bank Financial Inc., RBC Dominion Securities Inc., Scotia Capital Inc. and TD Securities. “Although Omega ATS is the smallest of the ATSs in Canada, it’s one of the independents. It’s not bank owned like Alpha Trading Systems and it’s not like Chi-X that started in a different region. It’s a really a home grown, trader oriented ATS,” said Eric Stoop, managing director at Tactico, an international advisory firm specializing in strategic and tactical solutions for the financial services industry, based in Toronto, Montreal and Los Angeles. Stoop spoke with Advanced Trading yesterday. Tactico will provide Omega ATS with financing, infrastructure, support and consulting services.

Tactico completed the investment on Jan. 24, 2010, but didn’t disclose the financial terms. It plans to increase its ownership stake over time, increasing up to 33 percent.

Two issues have driven the grown in Omega ATS’s volume, according to Stoop, First, Canadian regulators are now enforcing the rule that prevents market participants from bypassing better market quotes, and now all the firms are connected to Omega. At first regulators “were giving firms a bit of a free pass, because they weren’t connected, but now the free pass is over and everybody is connected,” said Stoop.

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

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