Instinet Inc. today announced its intention to launch ICX (Instinet Canada Cross), an Alternative Trading System (ATS) that will operate as a continuous, electronic auction market for the trading of Canadian exchange-listed securities.

ICX, which is expected to launch in 2007 and will be operated by Instinet I-X Ltd., a soon-to-be-registered Canadian investment dealer, should improve price discovery in the Canadian equities market through increased transaction speed, greater liquidity, lower transaction costs and ultimately improved investor performance.

ICX will be based on the same technology and pricing structure as Instinet’s forthcoming Chi-X Pan-European ATS. It will be available to any IDA-regulated investment dealer with membership in good standing.

ICX will support advanced order types, will fully abide by the Universal Market Integrity Rules (UMIR) and will be accessible to members through the Financial Information Exchange (FIX) protocol. Market data will be disseminated directly to subscribers and via third party market data vendors at no cost.


“We believe there is a significant opportunity to provide the Canadian marketplace with the same speed and cost benefits that alternative execution venues have brought in recent years to other markets around the world,” said Alex Goor, co-president at Instinet, in a news release. “With ICX, we’re leveraging Instinet’s deep heritage in the development of electronic trading. We expect the resulting increase in transaction speed at significantly lower cost to lead to greater trading volumes and a positive impact on market liquidity and transparency.”

“In speaking with our Canadian clients, it’s clear that there is a rapidly growing demand for fully electronic, off-exchange liquidity sources,” said Tal Cohen, senior vp at Instinet. “We believe that ICX will provide a much-needed alternative in the Canadian equity marketplace.”