Merrill Lynch has unveiled MLX MarketEdge, a new cross-border electronic trade-execution service for retail broker dealers and banks in Europe and the UK.
The new service, which is already operational, offers trading in more than 15,000 European, US and UK equities.
MLX MarketEdge builds on Merrill's existing electronic offering for the UK retail broker community, which conducts an average of 25,000 trades per day. The new service utilises the existing desktop platforms of both Reuters and Primark to deliver pricing to investors.
"Providing access to global stocks for investors across Europe can be a complicated and inefficient process," says Sergio Ermotti, head of equity markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Merrill Lynch. "MLX MarketEdge is a remarkably simple, cost-effective service for European banks and brokers to meet the growing individual investor demand for global equities."
All trades will receive immediate electronic notice of execution, and the service can also provide fully electronic confirmation and settlement.
From their desktops, firms will be able to use the system to execute orders in: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, the New York Stock Exchange (Nyse), Nasdaq and the American Stock Exchange (Amex).