Australia Still Waiting on Trading Venue Competition
By early next year, alternative trading systems (ATSs) are expected to bring full-scale competition to Australia, where the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) has held a monopoly on trading the stocks it lists. But it is a move that regulators have been slow to make, note observers, and target dates have already shifted multiple times.
In July 2007, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) requested industry comment on license applications from AXE ECN and Liquidnet Australia to operate ATSs. About five months later, ASIC proposed new rules that would allow the platforms to open, provided that certain market transparency conditions were met. While the new venues had expected to launch earlier this year, regulators have taken their time reviewing the proposal's cost efficiency, formulating plans for the operation of multiple market centers and weighing the risks of fragmentation. Global financial turmoil has furthered the delays.
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