BME, through its technological subsidiary, Visual Trader, will open a new point of access to the Spanish stock market in London, equipped with the necessary communications infrastructure for investors to connect to the Spanish electronic equity (SIBE) and derivatives (SMART) trading platforms.
The new gateway will be operational in late January 2015.
The hub will be the third opened by BME to allow firms in London to access the Spanish market in a safe, fast and reliable way, using high capacity fiber optic lines connected to Madrid by separate routes in order to ensure the continuity of the service. The network used for the connection ensures the maximum data transmission speed (latency will be reduced to only 11.3 milliseconds, a 20% improvement on the current link).
The Equinix London Slough Data Centre campus has been chosen for the installation of the access node. Equinix's data centre campus hosts the IT systems of more than 200 financial institutions and technology providers, which will make it easier for new investment firms to access BME.
The campus is a leading colocation and proximity hosting hub for the most important international equity buy and sell—side firms in the world, besides being a connection node for other European and North American markets, which will enable BME members to receive orders from other marketplaces worldwide.
According to José Parga, CEO of Visual Trader, BME, "the new node will be a breakthrough in terms of speed, quality and ease of access to the Spanish cash and derivatives markets, helping to increase liquidity and closer ties between BME and financial institutions in London".