The Australian Securities Exchange's 21-year monopoly on share trading is over after cheaper rival Chi-X quietly opened for business this week.
There were more than 800 trades on its first day, worth more than A$5 million ($6.5 million), compared with A$4.47 billion worth of trading on the Australian Securities Exchange(ASX). A total of 24 brokers have registered to trade on the new market, including major firms such as Commonwealth Securities and Goldman Sachs.
Chi-X, which is owned indirectly by Japanese giant Nomura, is offering a "maker-taker" pricing structure that is 40 per cent below the standard trading fee charged by the ASX. ASX had cut its fees in half in preparation for Chi-X.
The rival exchange will operate in a trial mode for the first six days until Monday.
If all goes well, it would trade in the top 200 stocks and exchange-traded funds, meaning 250 securities in total, says Chi-X Australia chief operating officer Peter Fowler.
