Global agency broker Instinet today announced that it has changed the name of its forthcoming ATS (alternative trading system) for Canadian equities to Chi-X Canada. The platform was previously known as ICX (Instinet Canada Cross).

“In a relatively short amount of time, we have seen a very strong awareness of our Chi-X brand take hold around the world among both dealers and institutions,” says Anthony Abenante, co-CEO of Instinet. “That being the case, Instinet intends to standardize both the technology of our displayed ATS platforms and their branding as Chi-X.”

“We’re excited to leverage the strong brand awareness that Chi-X Europe has achieved,” said Tal Cohen, senior vp at Instinet. “Additionally, given that both Chi-X Canada and Chi-X Europe are based on the same technology platform, with identical market data and order entry formats, we feel this name change will simplify the certification process for current Chi-X Europe customers that intend to connect in Canada.”


The Chi-X name is derived from the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet, “Chi”, symbolizing the “crossing,” or matching, of the two sides of a trade. Along with the “X” from the English alphabet, the entire name signifies a combination of the old world and modern world, or traditional securities trading techniques married with cutting-edge technology.

Introduced in April 2007, Chi-X Europe is a pan-European, equity MTF (Multi-Lateral Trading Facility) for the trading, clearing and settlement of the component stocks of the FTSE 100 (British), CAC 40 (French), AEX 25 (Dutch) and DAX 30 (German) indices.