The Bats trading exchange has hired infrastructure
services firm SAVVIS to host its Batselectronic equities trading platformin London to support the European market.
In less than two years, Bats has captured an estimated 10% of
the US market, and it recently announced plans to enter the
European equities market.
SAVVIS has hosted Bats Trading since its inception in the US. As
one of the fastest trading platforms in the US market, a key part
of the deal will allow Bats' customers to use SAVVIS' Proximity
Hosting solution to further reduce transaction times.
The US Bats trading platform is an estimated 12 times faster
than the London Stock Exchange.
SAVVIS has provided Proximity Hosting to US Bats customers since
August 2007. SAVVIS' newly expanded datacentre in London's
Docklands will support the move to Europe, and will give Bats the
capacity for future growth.
Ken Conklin, senior vice-president in charge of business
development at Bats, said, "With the advent of the Markets in
Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid), there is real demand in
Europe for access to global markets and, in order to make
international trading successful, we must replicate the same speed
and responsiveness we have displayed in the US."
SAVVIS currently provides managed hosting and networks for a
number of the world's largest financial exchanges, investment banks
and hedge funds.