LSE To Acquire Majority Stake In Turquoise

To compete with Euro-next and Deutsche Borse

London Stock Exchange (LSE) is on the verge of acquiring 60% stake in rival equities trading platform Turquoise and make up to GBP25mn in investment over two years, reported the Financial Times.
Reportedly, taking advantage of reforms by the European Commission in 2007, which allowed competition between share trading platforms across the region, BNP Paribas, Citi, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Societe Generale and UBS have established Turquoise lat year to pressurise the LSE to reduce its fees or improve services.
However, due to the global financial crisis, European share trading volumes have been pushed down even as indices have been buoyant. As a result, the banks, with their balance sheets bruised, no longer want to fund Turquoise, reported the newspaper.
Turquoise consists of two types of trading platforms, the 'lit' order book and the 'dark pool'. Acquiring the “lit” pan-European order book of Turquoise is expected to enable the London borse to compete with Euro-next on continental Europe, and with Deutsche Borse.