Toronto-based Alternative trading firm Omega Securities Inc. (OSI), has promoted its director of business development, Sean Debotte, to the CEO’s office, ahead of the launch of its new trading venue.
OSI announced today that Debotte, who joined the firm in 2011, has been named president and CEO. The appointment comes just a couple of weeks before OSI is set to launch its second trading venue, known as the Lynx ATS; which is scheduled to start trading on Feb. 3.
The firm says that its new market will initially use a typical “maker/taker” pricing model, but that it is seeking regulatory approval for a new “dynamic pricing model”. If it receives regulatory approval, the new pricing model may be implemented at the beginning of April, the firm says.
“Although the standard maker/taker pricing model is quite popular in Canada, we feel that there is a problem in the way intermediary market makers are remunerated for providing liquidity,” said Debotte.
“We understand that the rebate structure is designed to incent participants to close spreads and thereby reduce overall trading costs to the end investor. However, there is no discrimination between the rebate paid on highly liquid symbols that often trade at the minimum tick spread and lower volume securities that typically trade wider,” he added.
The firm also says that the Lynx ATS will be the first ‘pay as you trade’ venue, with no market data fees, no subscription fees, and no connectivity fees. All of its order entry and market data protocols will be the same as Omega ATS. Apart from pricing, it says that the only other major difference will be that broker attribution will be the default with the Lynx ATS.