It was a crazy week for markets last week but it looks like the beneficiaries in terms of venues were Chi-X and the LSE at the expense of Turquoise. I guess that’s a reflection that Chi-X is now seen as an established venue (alongside the LSE) whilst Turquoise has still to prove itself. It may also reflect the fact that that Turquoise’s members have had other things on their mind (like survival). It’s also interesting, however, if you take a longer term view as the future for the LSE doesn’t look so rosy. The FFI for the FTSE 100 has risen from 1.2 in April to just over 1.65 in October. The implication of this is that within another 6 months the FTSE FFI will have breached 2 at which point the LSE monopoly on these stocks is effectively over. With Bats and Nasdaq OM only just getting warmed up this will put even more pressure on the LSE to resurrect Baikal and deliver on its other initiatives aimed at maintaining its trading volume.
Author
Steve Grob
Director of Group Strategy, Fidessa
