Blast from the Past: Trading venues decry disruptors as MTF battle heats up
By Ben St. Clair
January 14, 2020, Risk
Imagine, for a moment, a trading tool that allows buy-side users to send quote requests to multiple dealers in one click. The tool collects responses and then displays the quotes on the buy-sider’s screen. The dealer sees only a single request for a trade. Should this service be described as a trading venue, or is it a chat tool with extra frills?
The tool exists: it is called Sparc, and it was launched last year by tech vendor Symphony as a bolt-on to the firm’s messaging platform. Sparc is not designated as an official trading venue in Europe, termed a multilateral trading facility (MTF). As such, it does not have to meet the same costly regulatory requirements as MTFs.
