Once MiFID II goes into effect on January 3, 2018, broker-dealers will have the challenge of routing orders to approximately 100 registered systematic internalizers to help them meet their best execution mandate.
"There estimates right now that by the end of the first quarter there might be 50 of them live, but it is still to be seen," Hazem Dawani, chief product officer at Vela, told Markets Media.
Sun Trading, one of the registered SIs, has rolled out the SI Data Hub platform from Velta to address the client connectivity issue in preparation for the deadline.
“With the addition of our interface to the Vela SI solution, we give firms the ability to be reactive and agile to access our data and execution capability," said Jamal Tarazi, Head of European Trading at Sun Trading, in a statement.
The SI Data Hub connects liquidity feeds from multiple SI using a normalized API to which users can connect. The vendor hosts its offering out of data center operator Equinix's facility in Slough, although clients have the option of running it internally.
Beside Sun Trading, Vela also has an un-named SI currently implementing the platform as well as agreements in place with five other registered SIs, according to Dawani.
"We're in active discussions with several others," he said. "We are providing a sort of membership program around our SI Data Hub where you become a member of this hub as a provider, and you get all the advantages that come with this."
From a set-up perspective, it took Vela a couple of weeks to have Sun Trading up and running form its end, Dawani added.
Vela plans to leverage its new offering to create a consolidated order book by aggregating the liquidity feeds from the SI Data Hub.
"Clients who are permissioned can view the prices from one normalized API," said Dawani. "It will be an additional offering included in the SI Data Hub, but customers will have to subscribe to it."