Americas Trading System Brasil (ATS Brasil), a joint-venture between Americas Trading Group (ATG) and NYSE Euronext, has formally made an authorization request with the Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) in Brazil to launch as a new stock exchange in the Brazilian market.

The formal request to approve ATS Brasil for trading in 2014 also includes provisions for the admission of new liquidity providers to the joint venture.

“The entry of ATS Brasil will be very positive for the evolution of the Brazilian stock market by adding another important trading platform to the region that will encourage growth and increase access to our markets,” states Alan Gandelman, CEO of ATS Brasil. “The entry of ATS Brasil would represent a new cycle in the Brazilian exchange market offering greater innovation, liquidity and trading activity. It is intended to support meaningful cost reduction while offering significant efficiency gains to investors, further positioning Brazil amongst the world’s most attractive markets.”

Gandelman will be responsible for leading the launch of the exchange as well as its development and strategic direction. ATG holds the controlling interest and operational management of ATS Brasil, while NYSE Euronext has a minority interest in the company.

ATS Brasil will operate using trading solutions developed and installed by NYSE Technologies, the technology unit of NYSE Euronext.

NYSE Technologies has already completed the customization of the core trading technology for ATS Brasil and is now testing the platform functionality and global connectivity capabilities. ATS Brasil is built on the Universal Trading Platform (UTP), a world-class trading engine used by NYSE Euronext’s stock and derivatives exchanges worldwide.

“Now in the testing phase for ATS Brasil, the Universal Trading Platform has been optimized to meet the specific needs of the Brazilian marketplace, its market participants and future global customers,´ said Martin Koopman, senior vice president at NYSE Euronext. “We believe that ATS Brasil will be well received by Brazilian market participants and will offer more choice, liquidity and global access to customers trading in Brazil.”

ATG is a high-performance liquidity center, broker-neutral, which consolidates and manages connections between brokerage houses, end customers and stock exchanges in Latin America.

ATG started a partnership with NYSE Technologies in 2011 to provide stock exchange market technology in Latin America, which evolved into the creation of a Liquidity Hub for the whole Latam. In 2012, ATG and NYSE Euronext announced their plans to create a new stock exchange / over-the-counter trading platform for Brazilian stocks, called ATS Brasil, with the objective to attract liquidity in the country.

ATS Brasil will operate in the market as a new stock exchange focused on the trading of equities and it may expand to other products in the future. “This new stock exchange is a natural evolution of the market,” said ATG chief operating officer Arthur Pinheiro Machado. “Since the announcement of the formation of ATS Brasil, we have had great acceptance and interest from many institutions and we believe that the Brazilian market has enormous development potential.”

ATS Brasil is scheduled to begin operations in 2014, pending the approval of Brazilian regulatory authorities.