Kepler Cheuvreux has expanded its offering in Europe through a connection to Euronext Dark, and extended its equity capital markets partnership with Crédit Agricole CIB into the MENA region, opening an office in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).
Some investors are convinced that lit trading is bad for their financial health – and trading firms are responding by channelling them towards dark venues. Speaking to Global Trading, execution sales team member Athina Trika stated that “dark trading continues to be a vital liquidity source for institutional investors.”
Connecting to Euronext Dark allows the firm to trade at midpoint across all seven Euronext exchanges. The service was launched in April this year, and allows users to source liquidity within Euronext’s central order book and make orders pegged to the real-time mid-point of the Euronext best bid offer.
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Explaining the firm’s engagement with the strategy, Trika continued: “As an agency broker, our primary focus is to help clients access liquidity while minimising market impact. By joining Euronext Dark, we expand our reach to seven additional European dark venues, enhancing the range of matching opportunities and functionalities we offer to clients.”
According to the exchange, Euronext Dark has recorded a 47% increase in volumes between April and August and has seen average daily trading volumes of up to 22.8 million. Currently, 13 active trading members use the platform, while another 20 are in the testing phase.
The expansion into MENA follows interest from institutional investors in the region, said Laurent Quirin, chairman of the supervisory board, “where ECM activity is booming”.
Through the newly-established local presence, Kepler Cheuvreux will initially offer equity research and distribution in the UAE, which it was licensed for by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) on 26 July, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region.
Claudio Villa, managing director and global head of equity primary markets, and Mathieu Labille, managing director and deputy head of equity brokerage, will be leading the MENA division, Kepler Cheuvreux revealed to Global Trading. Further details are expected to follow.
Crédit Agricole CIB will incorporate equity capital markets activities into its existing offerings in the region, it stated, developing its service portfolio and granting clients access to Kepler Cheuvreux’s international investor network and European research offerings.
“This new step in the history of Kepler Cheuvreux demonstrates the efficiency of our model and strengthens the group’s multi-local position,” Quirin commented.
Didier Gaffinel, deputy general manager and global head of coverage and investment banking at Crédit Agricole CIB, added: “Our partnership with Kepler Cheuvreux has proven to be highly successful in Europe with a number of flagship transactions. We are fully committed to the success of this new initiative and are strongly convinced of the value-add we bring to MENA equity capital markets issuers through our platform.”
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