Key Points:
ASIC's review into broker dark pools comes as
investigations by market regulators into the operations of dark
pool trading venues gain momentum worldwide.
ASIC has announced that over the next 12 months it will conduct
a review of some broker dark pools.
"Dark pools" refers to orders on a market that are not
pre-trade transparent. These can occur outside public exchange
markets, meaning the trade is not known to the rest of the market
before the orders are matched as executed trades. From a
regulator's perspective, dark trades undermine the integrity of
the market.
The announcement of an ASIC review into broker dark pools comes
as investigations by market regulators into the operations of dark
pool trading venues gain momentum worldwide. In recent months,
firms such as UBS, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank have been issued
with requests from regulators to provide details about their dark
liquidity trading venues. Further, in June 2014, the New
