These free to use web-based services were first launched in Europe to provide an unbiased view of the true state of fragmentation following the introduction of MiFID. As of today, they now provide comprehensive global content with specific regional analysis on the USA, Canada, Japan and Asia as well as Europe.

Available at fragmentation.fidessa.com, these tools allow the international trading community to analyze the fragmentation of liquidity in stocks and indices across the world over any time period in a matter of seconds. For the very first time, market participants can gain a complete understanding of the impact of alternative trading venues in each region as well as the international breakdown of trading in stocks generally.

Since its launch in 2008, the FFI has emerged as the definitive industry barometer, allowing users to track and compare fragmentation between the established market centers and the new alternative execution venues in Europe. The Fragulator, launched in 2009, has provided a unique and immediate view of the complete trading pattern of any European stock over any time period across both lit and dark venues and OTC markets. This same level of analysis is now available on a global basis.

Steve Grob, Director of Group Strategy at Fidessa, explains: "Our aim has always been to convert data into information through the combination of a simple web interface with a hugely powerful database behind it. Now we have extended this to provide the same level of instant insight into the macro trading environment as well as domestic fragmentation across multiple geographies. For the first time ever the global trading community can benefit from using tools which effectively provide the consolidated global market view of liquidity that everyone is looking for."

"The buy-side will be empowered with the knowledge they need to review broker performance properly, make more informed decisions about how and where they trade and assess whether they are receiving best, better or good enough execution services. The sell-side will have access to an independent measure that allows them to fine tune their smart order routing technology and demonstrate to their clients that they have the right capabilities and connections in place to achieve best execution. In addition, trading venues will be able to monitor their market share and track trends against their competitors using a consistent approach." adds Grob.

The global Fragulator and FFI will also provide an interesting perspective on the effects of different regional regulatory environments on fragmentation. For example, while RegNMS and MiFID have led to a reshaping of the equities trading landscape in the USA and Europe, there is no regulatory mandate for change in Asia and Japan. However, a number of initiatives, including the introduction of arrowhead by the Tokyo Stock Exchange, the recent launch of Chi-X Japan and the forthcoming launch of Chi-East in Singapore, look set to accelerate the rate of liquidity fragmentation dramatically across the region.

Grob continues: "The creation of a global FFI and Fragulator represents a major technological success which could not have been achieved without the considerable investments we have made in our market data capabilities. We have been able to leverage our global ticker-plant technology, cloud computing and an intuitive web delivered interface to produce an incredibly powerful and scalable tool that will include around 200,000 equities and indices from more than 140 venues around the world."

"At the same time, by tapping into our own global knowledge base and that of our sizable community of users, we can create an interactive and open environment to help drive debate and encourage better understanding of the ever-changing global financial markets." concludes Grob.