JP Morgan has acquired a stake in Chi-X Global, in a boost for the international exchange operator as it looks to step up competition against Asia's incumbent exchanges.

Chi-X Global said yesterday that JP Morgan had become the eighth financial firm to become a stakeholder in the equities exchange group, which is majority-owned by Instinet, the electronic trading brokerage owned by Japan's Nomura. Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, UBS, and automated trading firms QuantLab and KCG, hold minority stakes.