Dark liquidity pools, which execute orders anonymously away from stock exchanges, and other types of alternative trading systems have captured less than 1% of European equity trading volume, according to a new report from US research and advisory firm Celent.

The report said that although there are currently a range of offerings and new entrants in Europe, such as ITG Posit, Liquidnet and Nyfix Euro Millennium, overall penetration is still fairly low, compared to the success of dark liquidity pools in the US where they account for between 7% and 10% of US equities share volume. This increases to between 12% and 15% if internalised dealer systems are included.