BATS Trading Europe, a pan-European multilateral trading facility scheduled to launch this year, will use Fortis’s European Multilateral Clearing Facility (EMCF) to clear its trades. EMCF made its debut as the clearing facility for Chi-X, a multilateral clearing facility (MTF) launched in 2007.
“This is a key milestone in our 2008 launch programme in Europe,” said Mark Hemsley, chief executive of BATS Trading Europe, in a statement. “The EMCF provides a proven pan-European clearing capability.”
He added, “The needs of our customers will remain our primary driver in the selection of BATS’ partners and we will continue to prioritise the preferences of our customers in Europe just as we do in the US.”
Exchange operator Nasdaq OMX Group announced it would use Fortis’s European Multilateral Clearing Facility to clear trades executed on its new pan-European trading platform last month.
Jan Booij, managing director of EMCF, believes the addition of BATS should result in economies of scale for EMCF’s clearing participants and their underlying trading participants. “Examples are netting per equity, regardless which platform the equity was traded, as well as one set of legal documentation,” he said.
He added, “The collaboration with BATS is additional evidence of our strategy which is based on the simple principles of reliability, price competition and quality of service. EMCF and BATS have in common that we wish to accommodate the needs of our customers through technology, processing capabilities and price innovation.”
BATS Trading Europe is a division of BATS Trading, an established US electronic communications network.