Recently launched MTF Nyse Arca Europe has joined Bats, Chi-x, Nasdaq OMX and Turquoise as the fifth member of an industry working group set up to develop and maintain a uniform symbology framework for European equities.
The working group was formed by Bats, Chi-X and Nasdaq OMX in October 2008 to address the challenges posed by the multiplicity of stock symbols used in European equities trading.
The group, which Turquoise joined last month, aims to reduce complexity in a rapidly fragmenting market, enabling market data from European trading venues to be consolidated more easily and for smart order routing to operate more effectively.
Virginie Saade, head, Nyse Arca Europe, says: "Nyse Arca Europe is committed to further advance pan-European trading and we are delighted to join this initiative. We believe that enhanced consolidation of market data and more effective smart order routing will be crucial in achieving best execution and choice for clients in Europe."
The initiative could prove a precursor to development of a consolidated data feed, an issue which came to the fore last year following the day-long shut down of the London Stock Exchange's trading system. The majority of traders did not switch to alternative execution venues because they still rely on the LSE to provide benchmark pricing data.