Instinet signs second liquidity streaming deal with Sun Trading
Clients of broker and equities trader Instinet will gain access to bilateral liquidity from market makers after the company announced a bilateral liquidity streaming agreement with Sun Trading, its second such deal. The arrangement, which comes ahead of the new systematic internaliser (SI) regime under January's updated Mifid II regulations, coincides with the launch by Sun Trading of its SI platform, which will form the basis of its bilateral trading and quote provision services in Europe. Instinet made the same liquidity agreement with Virtu Financial in June.

Instinet has made its second bilateral liquidity streaming agreement with Sun Trading ahead of MiFID II’s systematic internaliser regime.

The agreement ensures Instinet’s clients gain access to bilateral liquidity from market makers through the firm’s existing connectivity.

It means users will see additional liquidity to fill the gap between lit venues and large-in-scale blocks, for better pricing and larger-size fills to minimise the footprint in the market.

Instinet added changes to liquidity provision under MiFID II will see the industry shift towards bilateral trading relationships and the registrations of systematic internalisers.

Ben Stephens, head of business development for Instinet Europe, explained the addition of Sun Trading as a liquidity provider is a ‘milestone’ for Instinet’s MiFID II strategy.

“By managing our clients’ interaction with many sources of liquidity in an anonymous manner, we can essentially personalise their access to the right counterparties in the most efficient way possible,” he said.

Sun Trading’s agreement coincides with the launch of the firm’s SI platform which will form the basis of its bilateral trading and quote provision in Europe.

In June, Instinet made the same liquidity agreement with Virtu Financial. Christiaan Scholtes, head of EMEA markets at Virtu, said at the time changes to the liquidity landscape in Europe led to the firm looking for ways to adapt.

“We see this relationship as an opportunity to transparently and efficiently provide our risk liquidity to a broader set of participants through Instinet’s high quality, neutral agency platform.”