PLUS Markets Group plc (the “Group”) today announces it has established PLUS Trading Solutions Ltd (“PLUS-TS”), an innovative trading platform technology provider enabling investment banks, brokers and trading venues to establish outsourced matching systems that are designed to be fully compliant with regulatory initiatives such as MiFID II and European Market Infrastructure Regulation (EMIR) as well as enable compliance with likely new categories of regulatory infrastructure.
PLUS-TS responds to the growing demand from market participants to segregate or create their own matching systems. Until now, firms operating or looking to operate such systems have been faced with prohibitively high implementation and ongoing operational costs, as well as the time needed for regulatory approvals and systems to be built. PLUS-TS delivers a low-cost, white-labelled solution, enabling firms to balance their initial and ongoing spend against future revenue, while at the same time satisfying new regulatory requirements.
PLUS-TS leverages the Group’s status as a neutral next generation operator of a Recognised Investment Exchange (RIE) with its regulatory and surveillance functions, bringing them together with a new low-latency, high-throughput exchange platform, PLUSMatch, to provide an outsourced matching service. This is fully hosted and managed by PLUS-TS for a competitive ongoing licence fee per deployment.
PLUS-TS will offer a range of services that can be customised to provide a bespoke solution for each client in multiple locations with the option of central counterparty clearing where required. It will support multiple asset classes and allow connectivity to other centres of liquidity.
The existing PLUS1 trading and surveillance platform and its technology team are transferring to PLUS-TS, with PLUS Stock Exchange (“PLUS-SX”) and PLUS Derivatives Exchange (“PLUS-DX”) effectively becoming its first customers. Senior management appointments for the new entity, and a rollout schedule for product enhancements, will be announced shortly. PLUS-TS is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Group, with an opportunity to syndicate out up to 49% of the equity to external shareholders based on demand and strategic fit.
Hirander Misra (former co-founder and COO of Chi-X Europe) who is acting as a strategic advisor to the launch and development of PLUS-TS, said: “PLUS-TS is a unique fully managed neutral ‘exchange-in-a-box’ matching and surveillance solution. It gives investment banks, brokers and trading venues their own innovative matching system solution that can not only help them comply with the new regulations, but also allows them to create new business growth opportunities across asset classes.”
Commenting on the launch of PLUS-TS, Cyril Théret, Chief Executive Officer of PLUS Markets Group plc, added: “We previously announced that we are creating the next generation stock exchange and PLUS-TS is another important part of this innovative strategy following the launch of PLUS Derivatives Exchange to complement our existing PLUS Stock Exchange.
“A lot of trading, compliance and IT heads are wrestling with the problems of understanding what regulatory changes will mean for them, and what they will have to do, and how much they will have to spend, to comply with those changes. The PLUS-TS offering aims to take all the problems away for a fixed licence fee and provides a comprehensive solution for all concerned.”