Growing Pains: The Rapid Rise of Europe’s Periodic Auctions

Periodic auction books, which can run potentially several thousand very short auctions daily, have become one of the most-talked about - and divisive - aspects of Europe’s post-MiFID II equities landscape. The platforms are the perfect antidote to MiFID II’s dark pool caps, being lit venues but with limited pre-trade transparency. But the rapid growth of the platforms since MiFID II go-live has rattled competitors and drawn the scrutiny of regulators, amid concerns over levels of broker self-matching and the extent to which they are price-forming. As ever with market structure, the devil is in the detail. Not all periodic auctions are the same and each hold key points of differentiation.

This TABB Group report, Growing Pains: The Rapid Rise of Europe’s Periodic Auctions, reviews volumes, execution statistics, the nuances of each platform, as well as potential regulatory measures that could be imposed upon the venues.