NYFIX Millennium, a subsidiary of electronic trading system developer NYFIX, has entered limited production operation of a new "Hybrid Market System" Broker-Dealer ATS (alternative trading system).
In a trial run of the system, orders entered from client terminals at different locations traveled to the NYFIX Millennium System where they were matched successfully and "printed to the tape." The orders crossed at the absolute mid-point of the National Best Bid and Offer, says the company, effectively eliminating the spread.
"Passing orders through NYFIX Millennium is a no lose proposition: orders either achieve price improvement or liquidity enhancement or they instantly travel onward to our broker systems on the exchange floor or other execution points in the market," says William Schneider, head of equity trading at UBS Warburg.
The Millennium business model uses a technique whereby trades receive price or liquidity improvement based on, among other factors, Millennium's ability to peg to real-time quotes from the National Market System
The official launch of the network is scheduled for 5 October.