— Rosenblatt Becomes First Agency Broker to Offer Sponsored Access to BIDS Trading
Rosenblatt Securities Signs Sponsor Agreement with BIDS Trading
NEW YORK, NY – August 14, 2008 – Rosenblatt Securities, a New York-based agency broker for institutional investors and BIDS Trading, the alternative trading system (ATS) designed to increase competition and liquidity in the U.S. equity block trading market, are pleased to announce an agreement that allows Rosenblatt to provide its clients with direct access to BIDS Trading’s crossing system.
Offering sponsored access to the BIDS Trading non-displayed trading venue, also known as a dark pool, speaks to Rosenblatt’s commitment to safely source liquidity for clients wherever it resides. Rosenblatt’s trading desk connects to a wide array of non-displayed markets, whose ranks and share of overall trading volume have been growing rapidly of late. The deal with BIDS Trading is the fifth sponsored-access accord Rosenblatt has struck with a dark pool.
For Rosenblatt, these arrangements continue a long tradition of providing automated direct-access tools that help institutions trade more efficiently. In 1989, for example, Rosenblatt became the first brokerage firm to let customers directly access the New York Stock Exchange’s DOT system, by putting electronic terminals on their desktops that allowed them to send orders to the NYSE display book without broker intervention.
BIDS Trading, also based in New York, was founded in September 2006 by a consortium of leading financial-services firms. Later this year, BIDS Trading and the NYSE Euronext plan to launch a joint venture that will allow dark orders to interact with both displayed and reserve orders from the NYSE, in an attempt to improve execution quality and access to liquidity for block trading.
“Our traders have been early adopters of dark pools, seeking best execution for clients in BIDS Trading and many other venues for quite some time,” said Joe Gawronski, President and COO of Rosenblatt. “Our results in BIDS Trading have been quite positive, so we’re happy to be able to also give our customers the flexibility to access it directly from their desktops if they so choose.” Gawronski continued, “We’re also excited about BIDS Trading’s pending joint venture with NYSE, which for the first time will link the exchange’s deep displayed liquidity with a dark pool, making BIDS Trading an even more desirable venue for institutions to access directly.”
“Being selected by Rosenblatt, a leader in market structure analysis and an authoritative source of monthly adjusted volume figures, is a testament to BIDS Trading’s approach, early success and future prospects,” said Tim Mahoney, CEO of BIDS Trading.
Volume on the BIDS Trading ATS has reached more than 5.8 billion shares* since its launch in 2007, with average daily volumes reaching 24.65 million shares* in July 2008.
Media Contacts
Caroline Bujak, BIDS Trading, L.P.
Email: caroline.bujak@bidstrading.com
Tel: +1.212.618.2097
Justin Schack, Rosenblatt Securities
Email: jschack@rblt.com
Tel: +1.212.607.3130
Stephanie DiIorio, Intermarket Communications
Email: sdiiorio@intermarket.com
Tel: +1.212.754.5181
About Rosenblatt Securities
Founded in 1979, Rosenblatt Securities is an agency-only execution boutique with headquarters in New York and an international sales office in Dublin. The firm represents institutional investors in global equity markets, through both its single-stock and program trading desks and direct access to the NYSE floor, a service it pioneered in the late 1980s. Rosenblatt has been at the forefront of embracing automation to enhance trading efficiency and the self-sufficiency of the buy side. It was the first firm, nearly two decades ago, to provide non-NYSE members with access to the exchange’s electronic DOT system. Today, it connects customers with a vast array of exchanges and alternative trading platforms, and provides the latest sophisticated algorithmic execution tools. In addition to attaining the best possible executions for clients, the firm believes in helping them to identify and properly use the best tools for when they trade on their own, and to navigate an increasingly complex equity marketplace. Rosenblatt also provides analysis of the exchange and brokerage space for institutional traders, portfolio managers and analysts. More information on the firm’s history and its services, as well as market structure and trading strategy pieces it has written, are available at www.rblt.com.
About BIDS Trading
BIDS Trading, L.P. is a registered broker-dealer and the operator of the BIDS Trading Alternative Trading System (ATS), which was designed to bring counterparties together to anonymously trade large blocks of shares. Developed by a consortium of leading financial services firms, the BIDS Trading ATS resolves the classic paradox of the block trader – the need to find legitimate trading counterparties without prematurely revealing trading intentions. The BIDS Trading ATS is open to all qualifying broker-dealers and their institutional clients, subject to basic credit and regulatory requirements. For more information, visit www.bidstrading.com
*Figures are double-counted, to include all volume traded on the BIDS Trading ATS (i.e., both sides of the transaction).
BIDS Trading and the BIDS Trading mark are protected in the United States and in countries throughout the world.