Cboe BIDS Australia to Commence Operation on 27 March

Cboe Australia, the country's second largest securities exchange by volume traded, announced Monday (March 20) that the final regulatory and other requirements for the launch of Cboe BIDS Australia (BIDS), have been satisfied, and that accordingly BIDS will go live on Monday 27 March 2023.

Cboe BIDS Australia is a block and large-sized matching and execution service that Cboe operates under its Australian Market Licence, allowing anonymous bulk trading of equities by both buy and sell side traders while reducing the risk of leakage.

The launch of BIDS in Australia will occur in two phases, according to the announcement.

Cboe Australia further explained: "Access to BIDS in phase one is limited to Cboe Australia market participants. Phase two, the launch of which will be advised by Cboe Australia in due course, will enable buy-side firms to also access the service through the BIDS Trader front-end interface."

The exchange also noted: "Cboe Australia has amended the Operating Rules (Rules) and Operating Rules: Procedures (Procedures) to accommodate the launch of the launch of BIDS. The new Rules and Procedures apply from today, 20 March 2023, ahead of the BIDS launch."

Cboe acquired BIDS Trading, the largest block-trading alternative trading system (ATS) by volume in the US, in 2021, providing strong support for the exchange to further penetrate the global OTC market.

Cboe BIDS has reportedly launched business in Europe and Canada. Last February, Cboe announced the launch of Cboe BIDS Canada​, bringing a new and enhanced block-trading offering to the Canadian equities market. According to the financial results for February 2023​ released by Cboe, the European subsidiary had a 36.3% share of the large in-scale market, making it the largest platform of its type.