BATS Global Continues Onslaught on Trading Domination – Options Market Share at 5.8%

One of the largest trading venues in the US has reported an upbeat September trading activity. BATS Global Markets, a Kansas-based financial trading venue, saw volumes increase across its products range. The Exchange saw the highest uptake in its options offering, increasing its market share to 5.8% during the month. September trading benefited from a sharp increase in volumes as traders appreciated Volatility from a previous flat market. BATS’s results are in-line with its peers and gives participants confidence that market activity is picking up.

In the US, BATS saw an uptake in the number of shares traded through the system, the average daily volume in US equities was 1.04 billion shares signifying a 20% market share, twelve months earlier the exchange’s ADV was 594 million shares reflecting a 9.7% market share. The value of trades has also increased from a year earlier, BATS US reported average daily notional value of $49.6 billion, up from $22.1 billion in 2013.

BATS’s U.S. Options market saw its market share increase substantially reaching a record 5.8%, up from 5.3% in August and 4.1% in figures reported a year earlier. At the same time, the firm’s European arm, BATS Chi-X Europe’s trade reporting facility, BXTR, set a new record with 62.1% market share and more than $388.11 billion reported.

BATS runs a global operation covering both US and European markets. It has developed its offerings in both market segments offering products such as equities, bonds, options and exchange traded derivatives.

BATS’s European unit, Chi-X Europe, saw a slight drop in its overall market share, in September the exchange reported that it held 21.7% compared to 23.4% a year earlier. However, the exchange saw the value of its trading activity increase to $10.2 billion, from $10 billion in 2013. The exchange covers a wide range of markets in the European region, including London, Nordic, Frankfurt, Zurich, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Vienna, Madrid, Lisbon and Dublin markets. Its highest market share is in the Frankfurt market with 26.5% coverage; within this segment it has a large trading share of DAX 30 securities.

Since inception in 2005, BATS has been creating a more transparent and accessible solution for traders. The firm has been gradually enhancing its position as an alternative venue for participants seeking low cost trading solutions. In 2008, the firm entered the European markets through its acquisition of Chi-X Europe.

The global recession of 2008 has bought a sense of positivity to the exchange traded markets as their battle between over-the-counter products has seen regulator intervention. In a bid to prevent the problems of the global meltdown six years earlier, world leaders have made proposals to migrate OTC products onto centrally cleared platforms.