Europe’s equity trading companies are gearing up for the increased use of dark liquidity pools, with rivals launching systems in the next weeks and months. However, it is unclear if Europe, where dark pools handle less than 1% of trading, will mirror the adoption of these systems in the US, where they have about a 10th of the market.

Dark liquidity pools, which enable buyside and sellside companies to trade blocks anonymously, thereby minimising market impact, are the flavour of the month in Europe’s main equity markets.