European Dark Pools Expand, Spiting Regulators' Ambitions

  • Dark trading increased 45%, while public trading rose 28%
  • Caps on European dark pools may be delayed until 2018
Photographer: Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
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Stock trading grew faster in European dark pools last year than it did on public exchanges, signaling that a regulatory campaign to clamp down on the practice is struggling to change behavior.

The region’s dark pools -- venues that don’t display prices before trades take place -- enjoyed a 45 percent jump in the value of trading they handled in 2015, according to broker and equity-market operator Investment Technology Group Inc. Public exchanges saw a 28 percent increase.