Partnership Formed between KCx and BMLL to Expedite Launch of Novel Trading Infrastructure
In a significant move, Kepler Cheuvreux, a leading European investment bank, has integrated BMLL's advanced market data infrastructure into its trading technology stack. This partnership is set to revolutionise Kepler's smart order routing (SOR) system, improving execution quality and efficiency in the highly fragmented European markets.
Robert Miller, head of market structure & liquidity solutions at Kepler Cheuvreux, stated that the focus is on the execution experience, including information availability, execution method, and order impact. With the new SOR, part of their KCx platform, Kepler aims to access deeper liquidity and better select optimal execution venues, directly improving execution quality and efficiency.
The integration of BMLL's data plays a critical role in this development. BMLL collects raw exchange data directly from trading venues and presents it in a globally harmonized and normalized format. This high-quality granular data eliminates the need for Kepler's teams to spend time on complex data processing, freeing them to focus on innovation in execution strategies.
The new SOR, KCx Spark, is now live and features a new dark-order placement model powered by BMLL data. This model significantly accelerates the router's speed and its capacity to tap into diverse liquidity pools. Paul Humphrey, chief executive of BMLL, described their approach as a new paradigm for supplying market data, turning historical data into the best quality pre-trade data.
By partnering with BMLL, Kepler avoids the complexity and cost of building and maintaining infrastructure to store massive data volumes, as BMLL handles data system reengineering. This partnership has also allowed Kepler to differentiate themselves by how they leverage the data, contributing to a significant rise in their market share and growing attractiveness to buy-side clients.
Elliot Banks, from BMLL, emphasised that their focus is on providing curated, easy-to-use, harmonized data for firms like Kepler. BMLL's data has democratized data ownership, allowing firms to differentiate themselves on what they do with the data, as argued by Humphrey.
The broader impact on best execution in fragmented European markets comes from the SOR’s enhanced ability to navigate multiple trading venues swiftly and smartly. This enables clients to achieve better price improvement, reduced market impact, and improved overall execution quality. The data-driven order routing is a key competitive advantage, particularly in markets where liquidity is dispersed and often hidden.
In sum, BMLL's sophisticated market data infrastructure empowers Kepler Cheuvreux's smart order router to deliver faster, more agile, and higher quality execution, thereby enhancing best execution outcomes amid Europe’s complex trading ecosystem. Kepler has also joined BMLL's products advisory board, allowing them to help shape the direction of the firm's data. This partnership is set to continue shaping the future of trading in Europe.
[1] Kepler Cheuvreux press release, date unknown. [2] BMLL press release, date unknown. [3] Financial News article, date unknown.
- Kepler Cheuvreux's integration of BMLL's advanced market data infrastructure into their trading technology stack aims to improve execution quality and efficiency in the highly fragmented European markets, by focusing on the execution experience, accessing deeper liquidity, and better selecting optimal execution venues.
- BMLL's data, collected directly from trading venues and presented in a globally harmonized and normalized format, eliminates the need for Kepler's teams to spend time on complex data processing, freeing them to focus on innovation in execution strategies.
- The new smart order router, KCx Spark, features a new dark-order placement model powered by BMLL data, significantly accelerating the router's speed and its capacity to tap into diverse liquidity pools.
- Through their partnership with BMLL, Kepler avoids the complexity and cost of building and maintaining infrastructure to store massive data volumes, and has been able to differentiate themselves by how they leverage the data, contributing to a significant rise in their market share and growing attractiveness to buy-side clients.
