A further two banks - JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank - have made investments in Bats Trading, the electronic alternative to Nasdaq and Nyse. Financial terms of the minority investments were not disclosed.
The Bats ECN, which is designed to handle high-speed, high-volume and anonymous algorithmic trading for broker-dealers, launched two years ago. Since then a number of banks have invested in Missouri-based Bats Trading, including Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Lehman Brothers and Citi.
Robert Flatley, MD and global head of autobahn equity at Deutsche Bank, says the investment in Bats Trading "will allow us to take advantage of ongoing market structure developments and continue enhancing our trading capabilities".
Commenting on JPMorgan's investment, Carlos Hernandez, global head of equities at the US investment bank, says: "As the alternative execution space continues to expand and evolve, we remain committed to its development while providing our clients the broadest access."
Bats chief executive Joe Ratterman, says the new investments "bring key members of the trading community to our table".
The Bats ECN claims a 8-10% market share in US equities. An aggressive pricing one month pricing plan introduced in January 2007 helped drive trade volumes and forced both Nasdaq and Nyse to adjust their fees.
In November Bats filed an application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to become a fully licensed securities exchange.