Summary
NYSE Arca Europe may have gallopped into the market at just the wrong moment to see a major breakthrough as volumes decline in European equities.
Analysis
The arrival of NYSE Arca Europe is probably not the best timed arrival in the post-Mifid maretplace and it will be interesting to see just what traction the platform can achieve. After all Turquoise has not really made a significant impact and the only real success story of the newcomers has been Chi-X but then again that now looks like almost a veteran in this relatively nascent field!
Niche players such as Liquidnet and ITG have continued to operate successfully within their fields but for the large "conglomerate" MTFs the outlook is very challenging. Volume in equities is declining as the bear market bites and there is already considerable competition from the likes of NASDAQ OMX as well as those already mentioned.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out and whether the exchanges can make money in the short term or are going to try to win a battle of the deepest pockets. At present the marketplace is certainly against many of them being profitable until volume increases overall.
