Look before you leap – Stewart Eisenhart scratches below the surface of dark liquidity pools to find a niche in the industry primed for consolidation, which is set to impact those firms using crossing networks, ECNs and ATSs for large block orders

The growth of dark pool trading venues in the US and the anticipated expansion of similar liquidity sources in Europe present buy-side managers with unprecedented execution options. The benefits of tapping into non-quoting liquidity pools – crossing networks, ECNs and ATSs – in terms of price and market impact, have been realised but accessing dark liquidity has nonetheless become an increasingly complicated proposition. Stewart Eisenhart reports

The proliferation of dark pools over the last few