Instinet improves alternative trading system in Japan

An electronic trading operator Instinet Incorporated reported that its Japanese agency brokerage subsidiary, Instinet Japan Limited (IJL), has enhanced both of its ATS (alternative trading system) platforms in Japan – JapanCrossing™ and CBX ASIA™.

Available immediately, Instinet has added a second pre-open VWAP (Volume Weighted Average Price) cross to its JapanCrossing dark pool. The new 08:40* cross, which follows the existing 08:30 VWAP cross, matches buyers and sellers at the stock’s primary market VWAP for the day. Reports on preliminary executions and residuals are sent to clients by 08:50, and market impact is mitigated as the trade is not printed until after VWAP has been determined by the Tokyo Stock Exchange at approximately 15:10. Participants in the 08:30 cross also have the option to roll-over residuals or input new orders for the second cross.

Additionally, Instinet has added support for “iceberg” orders in CBX ASIA, Instinet’s displayed liquidity pool for Japanese and Hong Kong equities. Launched in Asia in 2001, first in Japan under Instinet’s Japanese PTS (Proprietary Trading System) License, CBX ASIA is a real-time, low-latency central limit order book with traditional price/time priority and rich order functionality. Unlike Instinet CBX in the U.S., which is based on the same technology and is the market’s second largest independent dark pool, CBX ASIA is a displayed platform whose market data is available to clients, as fully-hidden orders are prohibited under securities laws in certain Asian jurisdictions.