Squawker, the negotiation venue for pan-European, sell-side block trading today confirmed that Ullink, provider of low-latency connectivity and trading solutions for the global financial community, has completed connectivity to the block trading negotiation venue from the Ullink global trading network.
This certification includes the FIX integration of ULLINK's trading front-end called UL TRADER. The direct FIX connectivity will enable ULLINK's sell-side community to route Orders, IOIs and Advertised Trades to Squawker and access the new venue's block liquidity from go-live.
Chris Gregory, CEO, Squawker, comments: "The countdown to trading on Squawker is on. As we move towards launch at the end of Q1, the appetite from Europe's sell-side community for a solution to the block trading problem is incredibly strong and the response we have received from more than 100 firms has been overwhelmingly positive. Our strategic partnership with ULLINK will ensure that another important community has direct access to Squawker from their desktop."
FIX Certification of UL TRADER and connectivity of UL NET to Squawker with full user acceptance testing was completed in January 2013. Squawker is in final discussions with more than 100 sell-side firms across Europe, including investment banks, agency brokers, inter-dealer brokers, and proprietary trading firms.