Project Turquoise To Launch 18th August and LSE/Lehmans Launch Dark Pool

A newspaper report informs that Project Turquoise, an alternative European cash equities trading platform established by a group of big investment banks, will go live on August 18th.

Backed by Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, UBS, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, BNP Paribas and Societe Generale, Turquoise is one of the multilateral trading facilities, or MTFs, being set up to challenge the virtual monopolies long enjoyed by many traditional national stock exchanges in Europe.

The articles states Turquoise expects to have signed up about 50 trading members by the 18th August. That compares with 65 banks and brokerages now trading on rival MTF Chi-X Europe.

Today, a MarketWatch report indicates that the London Stock Exchange and Lehman Brothers are planning to launch a pan-European share-trading platform in a move that may help the U.K. exchange fight back against rising competition. This joint venture will provide access to securities in 14 European countries and has been dubbed Baikal after the world's deepest lake.

The trading platform will operate as a dark liquidity pool. This is an anonymous trading venue that allows firms and institutional investors to trade large blocks of shares in secret and avoid moving the listed price.