May 12, 2020
Dark Order Overview
Dear Manager,
We are pleased to announce that effective from May 13, 2019, we can provide you an exciting new opportunity on the Canadian Securities Exchange (the old PURE gateway, renamed on August 14, 2018 )!
Trading in the Dark
Trading Priority
The CSE offers three types of pegged orders. These are hidden orders (not visible in public market data) where the trading price is pegged to the National Canadian Best Bid and Offer (“NBBO”).
All types of dark orders will trade ahead of any visible volume in the CSE book*:
- Dark MidPoint
Orders will peg to the Mid-point of Protected NBBO. The order automatically adjusts the pegged value as the quote moves over time, but it will not execute when the mid-point exceeds the stated limit. - Dark Market
Orders will peg to the opposite-side Protected NBBO. The order automatically adjusts the pegged value as the quote moves over time, up/down to the stated limit. - Dark Primary
Orders will peg to the same-side Protected NBBO. The order automatically adjusts the pegged value as the quote moves over time, up/down to the stated limit. - Dark MPI
Similar to a Primary Peg with a one-tick aggressive offset, except that it will book at a same-side NBBO where the pegged value would otherwise be at the midpoint. The order automatically adjusts the pegged value as the quote moves over time, up/down to the stated limit.
The CSE has a single book for both hidden and visible orders; any order* attempting to interact with visible orders will first trade with pegged orders in the book.
Pegged orders are a good choice for traders wanting to be ahead of any other orders already booked at the best bid or ask.
No Pre-trade Market Impact
Dark orders are not visible when they are booked. They will not lead to traders on the same side (on any market) improving their price in order to jump ahead of your order.
Similarly, a pegged order will not lead to traders on the opposite side of the market seeing your interest to trade, making their orders less aggressive and potentially moving the spread away from your order.
› What you can do before the opening bell
Choosing the Right Peg
Primary Price Improvement peg is the least aggressive Peg order. It trades at a better price compared to the other two peg types.
Mid-point Peg
The Mid-point peg is a balance of aggression between Primary and Market peg orders.
A good choice when trying to get ahead of other primary pegs or if you suspect the instrument is being pinged for mid-point price improvement.
Orders are pegged to the Mid-Point of the NBBO. Orders must cross the NBBO or the order will get cancelled back by CSE as the price is not aggressive enough.
Market Peg
The Market Peg is the most aggressive. It will trade only one tick or less better than if you cross the market.
It allows a trader to be passive and book more volume than is immediately available to hit on the other side of the spread and trade ahead of all other peg types.
*Orders marked with the Bypass marker do not interact with any form of hidden orders. Bypass orders are used for special functions like simultaneously trading at multiple price levels and are a rare occurrence.
Orders will be pegged to the NBBO with buy orders being pegged one tick inside the offer and sell orders being pegged one tick inside the bid.
Opportunities in CSE Dark Trading
We would like to remind traders about how dark orders work on the CSE/XCSE gateway.
CSE offers two types of dark orders:
- Pegged orders
- Seek dark liquidity only (SDL) orders
All pegged order types (Primary, Midpoint, and Market) on the CSE will go to their dark pool and receive fees corresponding to dark executions.
To send Dark Peg orders, traders can configure them in Keyboard Setup under Destination: CSE and Order Type: DARK Peg.
To send SDL orders, traders can configure them in Keyboard Setup under Destination: Seek Dark Liquidity for Limit and Market order types.
The CSE has shared materials with us that have more information about their dark orders, their fees, and how they work.
What are Peg Orders?
Peg orders on the CSE are dark orders and can only trade with visible orders. Peg orders are always passive.
For more information, please read the CSE Order Types and Functionality document.
With thanks,
Communications Team
