Cboe Europe Launches BIDS VWAP-X

• First-of-its-kind, exchange-operated trajectory crossing service for European equities, enabling participants to source and match liquidity based on a standard VWAP methodology
• Offered through Cboe BIDS Europe, the region’s largest block trading platform, utilising its proven conditional trade negotiation and execution workflow

Cboe Europe, the largest pan-European stock exchange1 and a division of Cboe Global Markets, announced that it plans to launch Cboe BIDS VWAP-X, a new trading service allowing participants to source and match liquidity at a forward benchmark price. This service is scheduled to launch in early Q4 2024, subject to regulatory approvals.

This first-of-its-kind, exchange-operated trajectory crossing service for European equities will be provided as a service of Cboe BIDS Europe, the region’s largest block trading platform2. Cboe BIDS VWAP-X is designed to utilise BIDS’ proven conditional trade negotiation and execution workflow to match orders based on a standard, exchange- regulated volume weighted average price (VWAP) methodology.

Natan Tiefenbrun, President, North American and European Equities, Cboe Global Markets, said: “As with all our trading innovations, this new service is being driven by industry demand with the aim of allowing end investors to achieve better execution outcomes. We believe the secular growth in systematic and passive investing has led to an increase in participative trading strategies which typically seek to achieve an average price over a defined time period. This new service enables natural buyers and sellers to cross their participative order flow at a VWAP price without incurring spread costs. A complement to our existing range of order book offerings, Cboe BIDS VWAP-X provides users with a venue-based solution for matching scheduled volume based on an exchange-regulated VWAP methodology.”

Stephen Berte, President, BIDS Trading, said: “Cboe BIDS VWAP-X demonstrates our commitment to innovation and developing new products that meet the evolving needs of our clients and the equities marketplace. We are excited for this new service to help make BIDS an even more integral part of clients’ toolkit for accessing the widest possible range of liquidity in Europe.”

Cboe BIDS VWAP-X will allow market participants to submit conditional VWAP indications of interest (IOIs) into the service. Once a potential match is found, firms will be invited to firm-up their IOIs, and after eligible order quantities are matched a standard matching cycle will take place to calculate the interval-VWAP trade price. Trades will be reported as off-book, on-exchange executions in real-time, allowing them to be centrally cleared through Cboe Europe’s interoperable clearing model.

The service will benefit from BIDS’ established protections against information leakage surrounding IOIs, including disclosure and interactions controlled by customisable tools and counterparty score-carding and filtering based on past trading behaviour.

At launch, the service will be accessible by sell side participants through FIX connectivity. Customer testing will begin in Q3 2024, ahead of a launch in early Q4 2024, subject to regulatory approvals.

Cboe BIDS VWAP-X will have a competitive pricing model, which will be transparent and publicly available. Pricing details will be shared closer to the launch date.

Source: Cboe