BlocSec introduces dark liquidity to Hong Kong

After three months of operating in Japan and Singapore, BlocSec, a dark pool owned by CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, has started its Hong Kong operations. Since opening on Thursday August 14, $1.1 billion of liquidity has passed through it, at an average of $243 million a day.

The service is the first Asian dark pool that serves clients on both the buy- and sell-side. It is an anonymous crossing network, which allows buyers and sellers to perform their trades without the order information becoming public, thereby helping to reduce the negative price impact typically associated with block trades.

Since its launch, more than 75 companies have signed up to use the platform and there has been liquidity in 356 different stocks. The average size of a cross has been $1.15 million.

ôThere is clearly a demand for this type of service in Asia. Dark pools have become an essential part of trading strategy in the US and Europe and we are excited to be one of the first dark pools in Asia,ö says Ned Philips, BlocSecÆs CEO.

Investors can connect via their order management system, such as Bloomberg or the BlocSec website. Orders must be firm orders of at least $1 million. There are a number of ways that orders can be crossed: at the mid-point, passive or aggressive, or at a full-day volume weighted average price.