New Canadian exchange Aequitas goes live on MillenniumIT platform
New Canadian exchange Aequitas NEO has gone live for the first time, using the MillenniumIT trading platform built by the London Stock Exchange’s Sri Lanka-based subsidiary.
Aequitas plans to launch a trading platform for equities in March, a listing platform for issuers in May and a market for private securities a few months later. In keeping with Schmitt’s history as former chief executive of alternative trading venue Alpha ATS, which had similar aims, the new platform aims to support retail investors and long-only businesses, segments of the market which he has long argued have been neglected and ignored by the conventional exchanges. The new venue aims to correct the unfair advantage thatsome observers believe HFTs have through their faster access to market data and faster trading technology, which allows them to profit at the expense of the long-only investor.
The complete project from contract to get Aequitas up and running on the MillenniumIT platform took less than twelve months. Aequitas chose to implement the trading platform, smart order routing, market data and surveillance aspects of the MillenniumIT package.
“The task we set back in March 2014 was enormous; we wanted to build an exchange of the future that challenges existing trading models and puts investors, companies raising capital and their dealers first,” said Jos Schmitt, chief executive at Aequitas NEO. “This could not have been possible without the exemplary partnership with MillenniumIT. The breadth of their innovative and highly adaptable products combined with the dedication of our two teams throughout the duration of the build, test and go-live have enabled us to bring our trailblazing exchange model to market very quickly. The highly flexible nature of MillenniumIT technology infrastructure means that we are confident in our ability to make ongoing enhancements to ensure the exchange technology develops and grows.”
