Equinix, Inc. (EQIX), the global interconnection and data center company, today announced that Aquis Exchange Ltd, the proposed pan European stock exchange*, plans to establish its primary data center at the Equinix LD4 International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center, inside the Equinix London Slough campus.
Aquis Exchange, which will launch pending approval by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), aims to revolutionize the European trading landscape and increase competition by introducing tiered subscription-based pricing and innovative order types.
The Equinix London Slough campus was selected by Aquis Exchange because of its unrivalled access to over 30 European markets, 80 exchanges and trading platforms. In addition, Aquis Exchange will have access to the Equinix Marketplace, which allows Equinix customers to identify potential customers and partners from over 4,000 ecosystem participants offering a range of services inside Equinix data centers.
The Equinix London Slough campus already houses equity platforms, as well as numerous FX platforms, dark pools, commodities, and new derivative products. Market participants may directly connect to the Aquis Exchange platform inside the Equinix London Slough campus via a local cross connection.
Cross connects go live within 48 hours of ordering, speeding time-to-market and lowering barriers to entry while providing high levels of resilience and low latency for the new members of Aquis Exchange. In addition, Aquis Exchange will be in close proximity to the trading community housed inside Equinix, which allows Aquis Exchange and its members to connect directly to other market participants inside the Equinix financial ecosystem.
Today, 25 per cent of total European equities trade count originates from the Equinix London Slough campus. Globally, over 60 per cent of volume-driving market makers are Equinix customers and over 25 per cent of these are currently based in the Equinix London Slough campus.
Alasdair Haynes, CEO, Aquis Exchange Ltd.: "We chose Equinix because we believe LD4 is the best connected financial hub in the UK. Equinix also has a great reputation for quality service and offered us a good value proposition. We are excited to be working with Equinix."
John Knuff, general manager, Equinix Global Financial Services: "We're delighted to welcome Aquis Exchange to the London Slough ecosystem. Equinix is uniquely positioned to support rapid liquidity growth and maximize opportunities for trading participants across crowded financial markets. Nimble exchanges, such as Aquis, are reacting to the demands of the trading community by driving down access and infrastructure costs when they deploy inside strategic hubs where a rich community of market participants already exists."