US-based electronic communications network Archipelago has begun trading listed stocks through the Nasdaq InterMarket link. The link enables Archipelago to post orders in listed stocks on the nationwide Consolidated Quote System and participate in the Intermarket Trading System (ITS) for New York Stock Exchange and American Stock Exchange listed stocks.
Investors who send listed orders directly to Archipelago can now trade in the national market system on the basis of the best execution, including stock price, speed of execution and fill rate. ECN customers traditionally have had this best execution capability only when sending orders in Nasdaq stocks.
Gerald Putnam, chief executive of Archipelago, comments: "With this access to the national market system, we now have the ability to compete on all dimensions of market quality with listed stocks."
The opening of the link in no way affects Archipelago's partnership with the Pacific Exchange stresses Putnam. The partnership to create an all-new electronic stock market will be implmented on schedule, he adds.