Trax, a subsidiary of MarketAxess Holdings, Inc. and a leading provider of regulatory reporting, trade matching and capital market data services, and Bats Europe, a CBOE Holdings, Inc. company and the region’s largest equities exchange operator, today announce plans to offer Trax Approved Publication Arrangement  customers the choice to direct equity trade reports to the Bats APA in order to help market participants comply with MiFID II post-trade transparency obligations.

By linking directly to Trax, firms can reduce technical burdens through a single reporting connection and improve flexibility in reporting designation by routing reports to either the cross-asset class Trax Approved Publication Arrangement or the Bats APA for equities. Through access to the Bats APA, Trax offers additional flexibility for assisted reporting whereby broker-dealers can aid their buy-side customers to concentrate their equity trade prints.

Geoffroy Vander Linden, Head of Transparency Solutions, Trax, comments, “Trax has worked extensively with the regulators and our buy- and sell-side client community to build a comprehensive and intelligent transparency solution. It’s through this cross-industry collaboration that Trax and Bats Europe will develop a connection for equities trade reporting. I’m excited to be able to offer our buy- and sell-side clients even greater technical flexibility and a streamlined operational solution.”

Jerry Avenell, Co-Head of Sales at Bats Europe said, “Market participants are looking for simple solutions to meet the new trade reporting requirements coming under MiFID II. By collaborating with Trax to provide their customers with streamlined access to the Bats APA for their equity reporting needs, we’re making it easier for firms to meet their regulatory requirements.”

The Trax Transparency Solution, which includes the APA, is available through the Trax Insight platform, offering a comprehensive cross-asset class pre- and post-trade transparency solution including quote publication, Systematic Internaliser determination, reference data reporting to multiple National Competent Authorities and Best Execution reporting. Trax Insight will have the ability to facilitate a firm’s complete cross-asset class transaction flow as both an APA and a MiFID I and MiFID II Approved Reporting Mechanism (ARM) for transaction reporting, ensuring trades are enriched with relevant data, validated for reporting eligibility and reported in near real-time.

Trax also offers firms the ability to complete necessary validation checks and test their MiFID II reporting readiness ahead of the January 2018 implementation deadline via the Insight platform. Trax supports flexible integration through multiple communication channels and message formats with links to various OMS systems.

Bats’ trade reporting facility, which will become an APA for MiFID II, handles approximately 60% of all OTC equities trade reporting across the region and covers nearly 13,000 European equities and exchange-traded products. Additional information on Bats’ trade reporting services is available on the Bats website.

Source: Press Release