Sharemarket operator New Zealand Exchange's bid to grab a piece of its Australian counterpart's share-trading business is to be called AXE ECN.
"We chose AXE because it not only says what we do, it says who we are," said AXE ECN chief executive Greg Yanco.
Axe is an
American term describing the most respected analyst of a particular stock or company.
"It's a professional term that summarises AXE ECN's ambitions in the Australian capital market to be the platform professional customers look to, much as brokers and institutions look to the axe on the research side," said Yanco.
An ECN or electronic communications network is a high-speed, low-cost trading platform that enables large investors to report off-market trades between a buyer and seller by the same broker.
The trades are known as "crossings", and make about A$18 million ($20.4 million) for the ASX each year.
AXE ECN's initial clients will be Citigroup, CommSec, Goldman Sachs JBWere, Macquarie Securities and Merrill Lynch, which are all NZX's partners in the venture.
However, Yanco, a former ASX crossings expert, said other clients were showing "encouraging" interest in the company.
AXE filed an application for an Australian Market Licence with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission just over a month ago.
Once it gets a licence it will begin talks with ASX on changes to Australian market rules to enable it to start business.
