Alterative trading system operator Alpha Group and Thomson Reuters are combining their expertise to launch a new suite of initiatives to address Canadian market data fragmentation, the companies said Wednesday.

The new suite of services will allow traders to see share prices offered across the various exchanges and alternative trading facilities in Canada, including Alpha ATS, Pure, Chi-X and the TMX Group.

Thomson Reuters will provide an independent consolidated tape and hosted direct feeds.

The fully integrated and enhanced consolidated data offering will be derived from order and trade data from the various Canadian equity marketplaces, and will include access to pre- and post- trade market data, the companies say.

Thomson Reuters feed handlers will be placed adjacent to most information sources including Alpha Trading Systems, providing market data access at the lowest possible latency.

Clients will be able to access all best bid and offer data from and across all contributing marketplaces, include time and sales data from the sources. In addition, clients will have full order book access attributed by dealer and marketplace.

“This is a significant breakthrough for the Canadian marketplace, delivering a consolidated view of all liquidity across multiple venues, enabling each individual trader to operate with absolute confidence that they are trading at optimum levels for their clients. Well managed consolidated data is a key means to help drive efficient trading and market liquidity,” says Jon Robson, president of enterprise, Thomson Reuters.

“Access to adequate consolidated market data is an issue of major concern in the Canadian marketplace. Without it, market participants cannot discover and exploit the best trading opportunities,” adds Jos Schmitt, CEO of the Alpha Group.

IE