020507

RBC Picks FFastFill

RBC Capital announced that it will go live on the FFastFill to access the Chicago Mercantile Exchange's (CME's) foreign exchange (FX) market via Reuters Application Service. The ASP-based service gives Reuters Dealing 3000 users direct access to the CME's FX futures and options markets and provides them with a method to trade FX spot and futures products.

The Chicago Stock Exchange (CHX) late last week completed the migration of its securities trading platform to a fully automated trading system. The new platform provides display, execution and cancellation of orders, as required by Regulation NMS. Bank of America, Bear Stearns, E-Trade Financial Corp. and Goldman Sachs last year invested a total of $20 million in CHX Holdings, the parent company of CHX. The minority stake was used to enhance electronic capabilities at the exchange (DWT, June 26, 2006).

Tokyo-headquartered Nomura Holdings announced late last week that it has closed the acquisition of New York-based agency brokerage Instinet. The $1.2 billon deal was announced by the firms on Nov. 2, 2006. As part of the announcement, Nomura named an eight-member board of directors for Instinet, including Ed Nicoll, chairman of Instinet.

Nomura acquired Instinet for its presence in the U.S. market and stable of algorithmic offerings, officials say. Instinet launched its latest trading algorithm, an implementation shortfall algorithm, in mid-January (DWT, Jan. 22).