One of the news bites that came out of SIFMA's tech show was that LiquidNet, a big fish in the dark pools industry, has had talks with NYSE Euronext and Nasdaq OMX about possible liquidity-linking deals. Both exchanges are moving in that direction. The Nasdaq has agreed to link to five dark pools at customer request, and NYSE Arca likewise has linked to some dark liquidity providers. In a talk at the show, Seth Merrin, CEO of LiquidNet, likened dark pools to a new wholesale market that didn't previously exist, notes Securities Industry News. It makes sense for retail demand from exchanges to access wholesale supply available on the LiquidNet platform, which brings together major dark pool players such as BATS. Customers get a break. Merrin used the term co-opetition to describe the arrangement. We'll likely see more formal news soon.  

For more:
- here's the Securities Industry News article

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