"Trading participants using the new version of Xetra can continue to rely on the same infrastructure, high speed and security they are used to. However they will also benefit from innovative order types including strike match and top of book orders. A range of forward-looking technical enhancements, such as multi-exchange capability and the introduction of the Xetra FIX interface, make Xetra Release 12.0 a real milestone," said Rainer Riess, Managing Director of Xetra Market Development.

The strike match order forms a bridge between Xetra and Eurex. It reduces "pin risk" for participants who trade in both markets. The top of the book order enables trading participants to ensure that the order is either placed at the top of the order book or rejected. This order type narrows spreads and thus increases market quality. With the cross request, Deutsche Börse is enabling bilateral orders previously executed off-exchange to be executed in the Xetra order book. These transactions provide an exchange price and offer market participants transparent and comprehensible price determination as well as standardised order clearing and settlement via Eurex Clearing.

The multi-exchange capability represents a technical innovation. It facilitates, among other things, the connection of other stock exchanges to the Xetra system and improves flexibility in terms of tradable instruments and trading hours. The Xetra system is used by many stock exchanges, e.g. in Vienna, Dublin, Sofia, Ljubljana and, from summer 2012, Malta.

The functionalities of the existing interfaces, Xetra Enhanced Transaction Solution and Xetra Enhanced Broadcast Solution, have been extended in the new release, and order management and administration considerably improved. A completely new feature is Xetra FIX Gateway, a standardised interface for trading participants which considerably improves technical access to the Xetra trading system.