Baikal, the pan-European MTF and dark pool from the London Stock Exchange, has received regulatory approval from the Financial Services Authority and is beginning a phased roll-out from this week.
The new platform will switch on with the introduction of smart order routing to 17 execution venues for 6500 stocks across 14 European countries. OTC settlement will be provided by BNP Paribas Securities Services.
Xavier Rolet, chief executive of London Stock Exchange says: "In line with our ambitious launch timetable, we have delivered the first part of Baikal's solution for aggregating liquidity and solving the challenges of market fragmentation. We look forward to building on this important milestone with the launch of the non-display order book and further liquidity aggregation services later in the year."
He adds that Baikal is continuing to refine and develop its market model to satisfy the requirements of the MiFID pre-trade transparency regime that are applicable to non-display MTFs.