Granted Patent B1

US 8,306,904 · App. 13/114,822 · Granted Nov 6, 2012

Abstract

Claims (35)

1. A method comprising:

receiving with a processing system comprising one or more processors data indicating that one or more orders for a specific security in one or more trading systems are available for aggregation into a potential block of at least a specific size;

transmitting with said processing system data sufficient to enable a trading interface in communication with a first trading system to display an indication of the existence of said potential block and that at least some orders in said block originated from a second trading system in said one or more trading systems, said second trading system being separate from said first trading system; and

receiving from said trading interface a contra order in said first trading system that crosses said potential block.

2. A method as in claim 1 , further comprising transmitting to said second trading system said contra order for execution against said aggregated one or more orders.

3. A method as in claim 1 , wherein said one or more trading systems seek to identify one or more orders for said specific security that are available for aggregation into said potential block in response to at least one of:

(a) a timer;

(b) a market data analysis indicating presence of two-sided interest in said specific security;

(c) confidential information about a standing order that has not crossed with other institutional liquidity;

(d) information related to trade history that indicates a potential need for block liquidity in said specific security; and

(e) confidential information from one or more order management systems indicating a potential need for block liquidity in said specific security.

4. A method comprising:

receiving with a processing system comprising one or more processors data indicating that one or more orders of a specific size for a specific security are available in one or more securities trading systems;

transmitting with said processing system data sufficient to enable a trading interface in communication with a first trading system to display an indication of the existence of said one or more orders and to indicate that said at least one or more of one or more orders originated from a second trading system in said one or more trading systems, said second trading system being separate from said first trading system; and

receiving from said trading interface a contra order that crosses said one or more orders.

5. A method as in claim 4 , further comprising transmitting to said second trading system said contra order for execution against said one or more orders.

6. A method as in claim 4 , wherein said one or more trading systems seek to identify one or more orders of a specific size for a specific security that are available in one or more securities trading systems in response to at least one of:

(a) a timer;

(b) a market data analysis indicating presence of two-sided interest in said specific security;

(c) confidential information about a standing order that has not crossed with other institutional liquidity;

(d) information related to trade history that indicates a potential need for block liquidity in said specific security; and

(e) confidential information from one or more order management systems indicating a potential need for block liquidity in said specific security.

7. A method comprising:

receiving from a trading interface for a first trading system data describing a trading interest of a specific size and side in a security;

notifying one or more systems, external to said first trading system, and comprising orders in said security of said trading interest, but not necessarily of said size and side;

receiving with a processing system comprising one or more processors an indication from at least one of said external trading systems that one or more contra orders are available in said external trading systems for matching against said trading interest;

transmitting with said processing system data sufficient to cause said trading interface to display an indication that said one or more contra orders are available for matching against said trading interest and that at least one of said one or more contra orders originated in said external trading systems;

receiving from said trading interface instructions to execute said trading interest against said one or more contra orders; and

transmitting a request to said at least one of said external trading systems to execute said trading interest against said one or more contra orders.

8. A method as in claim 7 , wherein said trading interest is a block order in said security.

9. A computer system comprising:

one or more processors that receive data indicating that one or more orders for a specific security in one or more trading systems are available for aggregation into a potential block of at least a specific size;

one or more processors that transmit data sufficient to enable a trading interface in communication with a first trading system to display an indication of the existence of said potential block and that at least some orders in said block originated from a second trading system in said one or more trading systems, said second trading system being separate from said first trading system; and

one or more processors that receive from said trading interface a contra order in said first trading system that crosses said potential block.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing software that performs the method of claim 1 .

Assignments (8)