SGX, the Singapore exchange, has signed a joint venture agreement with Chi-X Global, an alternative equities trading platform, to launch Asia's first exchange-backed “dark pool” for the trading of large blocks of shares.
The development is part of efforts to build pan-Asian share trading as the growth of China's capital markets forces smaller regional exchanges to come up with innovative ways to ensure their long-term survival.
The joint venture is expected to start in the first half of 2010 and will allow institutional investors to trade large blocks of shares listed in Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong and Japan. The respective investments were not disclosed.