RBC Capital Markets announced today that it has completed its acquisition of New York-based Carlin Financial Group, a broker-dealer known for its proprietary trade execution platform that is extremely popular with emerging hedge fund managers, professional traders and financial institutions.

The deal was originally announced in October 2006.

With the acquisition, RBC will average 3.5 billion shares in monthly trading volume, ranking it in the top 10 in the U.S.

The new division, renamed RBC Carlin, also announced today the launch of its customizable options trading module, Options Pro, thus entering the field of top tier multi-asset DMA (direct market access) trading platforms.

Options Pro, part of a suite of solutions that RBC Carlin is offering to clients under its new RBC Accel system, represents the first in a series of scheduled module releases and feature enhancements to the system, with proprietary algorithms soon to follow. As a result of the merger, the firm also expects to gain further access to the Canadian market, strengthening its position as one of the premier North American front end trading systems.

“RBC Capital Markets has been very aggressive in building a complete product and service platform to better serve our clients,” said Greg Mills, RBC Capital Markets’ head of global equity sales and trading, in a news release. “The creation of the RBC Carlin business division, with its advanced technology platform, is a clear illustration of our commitment to delivering a full suite of products to our clients.”

RBC Accel is a comprehensive portfolio trading system that features highly sophisticated solutions, including automated risk management. Trading more than 30 million shares daily, RBC Accel is among the industry’s fastest execution platforms.

“The future of DMA lies in the ability to respond to and anticipate traders’ growing needs to execute orders across multiple asset classes and hybrid instruments,” said Jeremy Frommer, president of RBC Carlin. “With the completion of the merger, we are now able to offer a wide array of clients a trading platform that is truly one of the best in class.”

RBC Capital Markets’ acquisition of Carlin Financial Group is the latest in a series of deals completed by the firm as it continues to build its presence in the United States and globally. In terms of assets as of October 31, RBC is the sixth-largest bank in North America.