NASDAQ OMX Europe today announced its first Sponsored Access partnership with Penson Worldwide, Inc. (Nasdaq:PNSN), a leading provider of execution, clearing, settlement, custody and technology products and services to the global financial services industry. Access will be available via the UK-based subsidiary, Penson Financial Services, Ltd. who will be the first Sponsoring Participant for NASDAQ OMX's multilateral trading facility, NASDAQ OMX Europe.
Through the Sponsored Access service, firms are able to access high-volume, European blue chip stock trading without being direct members of NASDAQ OMX Europe.
Sponsored Access enables trading participants to give their clients the ability to connect directly to NASDAQ OMX Europe, providing access to its advanced matching and routing services, without compromising risk control. NASDAQ OMX Europe provides a rigorous Pre-Trade Risk Management (PRM) system that ensures Sponsoring Participants can confidently offer their Sponsored Clients direct connectivity to the platform. The PRM system monitors all orders submitted to the NASDAQ OMX Europe order book and limits can be agreed between NASDAQ OMX Europe and the Sponsoring Participant. Clients are able to connect either via proximity hosting or through remote access.
Charlotte Crosswell, President of NASDAQ OMX Europe, said, "We are delighted to be able to work with Penson as the first sponsoring participant for our new Sponsored Access service. We believe this is a mutual opportunity to offer an extremely competitive service in what we know is a keenly sought after space."
"We are very excited about the opportunity to partner with a global exchange leader like NASDAQ OMX Europe in an effort to bring new entrants and order flow into the European markets," said Alan Philpot, CEO of Penson Financial Services, Ltd.
"The ability of Penson to provide NASDAQ OMX Europe Sponsored Access with no added latency presents a great opportunity for Penson to assist its 300 global correspondents expand their trading and product offering," commented Dan Weingarten, co-head of Global Sales and Marketing at Penson Worldwide.
While Penson plans to target its global clearing and execution services correspondents for this product, the clearing element is independent of the service. "With the ever changing landscape in European trading venues brought about by MiFID, we believe we are uniquely positioned to provide access for all U.S. broker dealers whether they clear through Penson or not. We believe that the agnostic nature of this service offers an independent and neutral approach to connectivity to NASDAQ OMX Europe," commented Philpot.