Dark-pool operator Liquidnet is in talks with major stock exchanges in Asia to try to form partnerships, building on similar links that it has secured in the US and Europe.
However, Liquidnet founder and chief executive Seth Merrin said his company was not competing with traditional exchanges but wanted to set up partnerships with Asian bourses to allow Liquidnet's institutional clients to trade with customers of other local brokers more easily.
'We are in talks with major exchanges in Asia about partnerships,' Merrin said, without identifying any bourses.
'I am confident we can make an announcement in 2012.'
Dark pools are popular in the United States and Europe and allow investors to trade large blocks of stocks via an electronic trading platform without disclosing their identities, price or volume. Traditional exchanges worldwide have been building faster networks in response to competition from alternative platforms like dark pools and other electronic channels that are eroding their turnover. Some stock exchanges in the US and Europe have also developed their own dark pools or have teamed up with dark pool operators such as Liquidnet.
In Asia, Singapore Exchange teamed up with a dark-pool operator Chi-X Global in November to launch the world's first exchange-backed dark pool, Chi-East, to trade Singapore-, Hong Kong-, Japanese- and Australian-listed shares.