How much does it cost to build a pan-European dark pool?

Well, if you're Nyfix, the answer is $8.7 million and counting (with a further $2m-$2.5m next quarter). It's hard to tell with just a few minutes of web research whether this represents good value or not, compared with its peers. But considering that Euro Millenium supposedly leverages technology already employed by the Nyfix Millennium alternative trading system (ATS) in the U.S., it seems a bit high.

Admittedly, the company says it wanted to tailor the product to the European market in consultation with its advisory board members such as JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch, Allianz Global Investors and Baring Asset Management. But the delays it encountered for the launch point to how complex, and capital intensive, these projects can be.

Nyfix's transaction services division (incorporating the well established Milennium dark pool in the US) saw a 22% decrease in net revenues last quarter, falling to $10.8 million, compared to $13.9 million for Q207.

Given that this is a volume game when it comes to revenue, I wonder how worried Nyfix is that it is yet to see any revenue from Euro Millennium in the three months since its March launch. And given the plethora of competing dark pools and mixed light-dark trading facilities recently or soon to be launched in Europe, I wonder what kind of volume they will need to achieve to make the investment so far worthwhile?