Home / What the Barclays dark pool case means for Australia

What the Barclays dark pool case means for Australia

(Pictured: Phillip Weinberg)

The legal action by the New York Attorney General’s Office against Barclays Bank over management of its dark pool of liquidity for clients has ramifications around the world, according to Phillip Weinberg, chief executive of Australian trade execution firm BestEx.

The NY Attorney General is alleging that Barclays systematically biased its dark pool in favour of its high frequency trading (HFT) clients and against institutional clients. Barclays mad misrepresentations and even gave HFT clients details of the institutions on the other side of trades, according to the writ delivered late last month.

  • Weinberg said: “While ASIC appears to have done a good job at calming the market in relation to market integrity, the conflicts in broker order routing are the biggest problem in the Australian market.

    “This issue costs investors far more than HFT or dark pools per se. The Barclays matter goes straight to that point and is very relevant in Australia.”

    Weinberg believes that a big part of the solution is for clients and institutional investors to engage more with their brokers and be more proactive and discerning in how they route their orders.

    He has written a short paper on the subject. Read it here

    Investor Strategy News


    Related
    ‘Bubble thinking’: Howard Marks on market blow-ups

    Higher starting valuations usually lead to lower returns, but the most important part of a bubble is “highly skewed psychology” – and investors remain anchored to sanity.

    David Chaplin | 10th Jan 2025 | More
    ‘Martian real estate’ and bittersweet farewells: ISN’s top 10 stories of 2024

    This year’s top 10 stories included a peek into AustralianSuper’s international equities build out in London, AMP’s move to slash employee benefits, and plenty of hard-hitting analysis of the issues that matter in institutional investment. But the real story is how readers helped shape all of that coverage.

    Lachlan Maddock | 18th Dec 2024 | More
    ‘Nothing will stop me’: Stuart Place rides 15,451 km for son’s rare disease

    Orbis’ Stuart Place is riding from Melbourne to the Moon and Back to fund a treatment for the “monster of a disease” that his youngest son was born with. The investment industry is rallying behind him.

    Lachlan Maddock | 18th Dec 2024 | More
    Popular