UBS Launches Canada-US Interlisted Algorithmic Trading

NEW YORK, Feb. 3 /PRNewswire/ - UBS today announced the launch of Interlisted Algorithmic Trading for clients trading equities listed on both Canadian and American exchanges.  Clients will be able to leverage UBS's superior foreign exchange strength to optimize settlements in the currency of their choice as routing and FX exposure is handled entirely by the UBS algorithmic trading engine and is completely transparent.

Clients will see an aggregated, weighted view of a symbol's global liquidity instead of two separate country-centric views, which should result in greater accuracy as the UBS strategies calculate optimal placement behavior, aggregated risks and potential market impact.  UBS clients will be able to access anywhere from 20% to 80% more liquidity in interlisted names without having to deal with complex settlement procedures.  Orders are managed with a more integrated and dynamic picture of both markets' liquidity and price discovery mechanisms through UBS's own proprietary cross-border consolidated order book.

"The trading volume on Canadian and US exchanges of inter-listed stocks can reach into the billions of shares daily," said Rick Meslin, CEO of UBS Securities Canada Inc. and Head of Canadian Equities. "With these volumes driving potential cost savings to clients it was imperative for us in this age of 'Algo 2.0' to build a better mouse trap.  And we have."

The new technology can post and track volumes in both markets simultaneously.  Clients will see an improvement in clarity of overall liquidity and significantly reduce the risks of opportunity cost and negative selection.

"Canadian clients can access seven different algorithmic trading strategies, and US-based clients can access over a dozen strategies and tactical order types," said Owain Self, Global Head of Algorithmic Trading at UBS Investment Bank.  "The clients participating in the beta testing responded quite positively.  Our goal for this offering was to look at the challenge of trading interlisted stocks in a new way - and resolve issues clients previously had to grapple with."

UBS draws on its 150-year heritage to serve private, institutional and corporate clients worldwide, as well as retail clients in Switzerland. We combine our wealth management, investment banking and asset management businesses with our Swiss operations to deliver superior financial solutions and manage CHF 2.2 trillion in invested assets. 

UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide. It has offices in over 50 countries, with about 37% of its employees working in the Americas, 37% in Switzerland, 16% in the rest of Europe and 10% in Asia Pacific. UBS employs about 65,000 people around the world. Its shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

SOURCE UBS Canada