Exchange rival to float on AIM
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.JOHN EISENHAMMER
Financial Editor
Tradepoint, the fledgling rival to the Stock Exchange, is to list its shares on the Alternative Investment Market in April. Michael Waller-Bridge, chairman, said Tradepoint aims to raise some pounds 8.5m through a placing by broker Williams de Broe to fund the exchange's next stage of development.
"We are a UK company, a substantial margin of shareholders are UK-based, and we feel it is an appropriate time to migrate towards our principal market," he said.
Tradepoint's launch last autumn of an electronic trading system, which automatically matches buy and sell orders, coincided with a heated debate among the London Stock Exchange's members over a proposed radical reform of trading.
The Exchange has been consulting on whether members wish to switch to a Tradepoint-style order-driven system. Stock Exchange dealing in London is traditionally dominated by large securities firms which use their own capital to make markets in shares, posting continuous buy and sell prices.
Tradepoint's shares are currently only traded in Vancouver, Canada, where they have been listed since 1992. In January, Tradepoint announced a deal with Bloomberg, the US financial news service, which will allow users of Bloomberg screens worldwide to trade directly with Tradepoint in London.
Mr Waller-Bridge said that business had picked up, with the number of trades growing from 125 in October to almost 400 in February. This is a tiny fraction of the overall business in the UK stock market, but Tradepoint claims to need a little over 2 per cent of the Stock Exchange's volume to break even.
"We are getting institutional size orders now, even if it's still modest and early days, and we have two-way order quotes on about 40 of the FT- SE 100 stocks," he said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments