Now that BATS and Nasdaq OMX Europe have been operational for a short while, it looks like they still have a bit of work to do before they can get into the same league as a Chi-X and Turquoise. Both BATS and Nasdaq OMX Europe, however, have yet to extend their stock coverage fully and they have a number of firms waiting to be connected to their platforms.
But if the LSE thinks it can sit back and ride out the fragmentation storm then it should look at what’s happening to stocks like BP, Rio Tinto and most spectacularly of all Sage Group. Last Friday, over 45% of Sage Group was traded “alternatively” on Chi -X and Turquoise and it looks like it will be the first FTSE100 stock that will be regularly traded more on MTFs than on its home exchange.
It has taken Turquoise a little over 8 weeks to establish meaningful volumes (>5%) on FTSE stocks. If this pattern is repeated with BATS and Nasdaq OMX Europe then 2009 looks like it’s going to be an interesting year for the primary exchanges.