EXCLUSIVE: Chi-X to Offer Up to 800 Japanese Stocks on PTS

Tokyo, July 26 (Jiji Press)--Chi-X Global Inc., a unit of Nomura Holdings Inc. <8604>, plans to make up to 800 Japanese stocks tradable on a proprietary trading system it will launch later this week, Jiji Press learned Monday.

Chi-X will start the high-speed, low-cost PTS on Thursday with five
issues. They are Sony Corp. <6758>, Toyota Motor Corp. <7203>, Mitsui & Co.
<8031>, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. <8316> and Softbank Corp.
<9984>.
It plans to add more than 200 issues, mainly from components of the
225-issue Nikkei average, in a week and then boost the number to 700-800
within three months if the system works with no major problems.
Chi-X's move represents the top Japanese brokerage firm's first PTS
service in its home market.
Chi-X's cutting-edge system can match orders in 0.0005 second, four
times faster than the Tokyo Stock Exchange's system, called "arrowhead,"
which was launched at the beginning of this year.
In addition, Chi-X will set lower fees for participants, mainly
securities firms and institutional investors, than those of the TSE.
At a press conference Monday, TSE President Atsushi Saito said that
the launch of the Chi-X system could be a blow to the TSE and called for
fair competition.
The Chi-X system will be available between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m.,
compared with the TSE's opening hours from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
"It is important that there are several options for high-speed
trading, such as arrowhead and Chi-X," said Toru Irokawa of Chi-X Global's
Japan unit. "We hope to expand the overall market."
Japan scrapped a rule that limited stock trading to registered
exchanges in 1998. At present, six companies offer PTS services in Japan.
In 2009, total trading value on PTSs came to 2,992.8 billion yen,
up 39 pct from a year before and close to that on the Jasdaq Securities
Exchange but still short of one pct of all stock trading in Japan.