Bring back the block trade.
That sentiment has long been the mantra of the buyside trader, finding large size liquidity while keeping his intentions quiet and achieving best execution. To that end, Citi has rebranded itsLiquifi ATS into CitiBLOC, an alternative trading system designed for block execution.
According to Citi, the platformleverages conditional orders to seek block execution while minimizing the opportunity cost typically associated with trading blocks of stocks. It is designed to only accept auto firm-ups, and has a nearly 90% normalized firm-up rate.1
CitiBLOC accepts conditional buy and sell orders and sends an invitation to firm-up to each of the participants when there is a potential match. It has a unique rank, time matching priority.Rank is determined by a combination of firm-up rate and size of firm-up orders.A minimum size of 5,000 shares or a notional value of at least US$100,000 is required per order. The crossing engine is also compliant with the SECs tick size pilot as all executions are done at midpoint.
CitiBLOC is designed to leverage the conditional order concept in very unique and innovative ways seamlessly finding block crossing opportunities while encouraging and rewarding the right behavior among clients, said John Procopion, Head of CitiBLOC. We have created a closed-end venue that will help streamline the process and establish a safe and secure trading environment.
Innovation is core to our success and we will continue to leverage our electronic capabilities to further expand our product breadth and reach, said Young Kang, Americas Head of Electronic Cash Trading. This is another major milestone for our platform and underscores our commitment to provide best execution and premium service to our client base.
