part of inca's price schedule is volume dependent. they will charge lower fees for higher volume. Nevertheless, they are more expensive and their price change was long overdue. Perhaps a bit of too little too late.
The full press release:
New York, March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Instinet Group Inc. slashed
its fees for trades in Nasdaq-listed stocks by 60 percent to lure
more business after rival Island ECN Inc. cut its prices last
month.
Instinet's electronic trading system, used mostly by hedge
funds, mutual funds and brokerages, also lowered fees on exchange-
traded funds, the company said.
``Price has asserted itself as a significant concern for
broker-dealers,'' said Doug Atkin, Instinet's president and chief
executive officer, in a press release.
The price reductions come four months after Island surpassed
Instinet as the No. 1 market for Nasdaq stock trades. Island is
also the biggest market for exchange-traded funds based on the
Nasdaq 100 Index, one of the most heavily traded securities.
Instinet, a unit of Reuters Group Plc, will now rebate to
customers who post offers to buy or sell shares on its system --
known as ``liquidity providers'' -- 20 cents per 100 shares. They
must trade at least 500,000 shares monthly, as the majority of
Instinet's customers do.
Previously, for customers who posted bids and offers, the ECN
awarded credits on future trades of 5 cents per 100 shares. The
credits were awarded only to investors who traded at least 75
million shares a month on Instinet -- a small fraction of its
customers.
Exchange-Traded Funds
For traders on Instinet who respond to posted offers and bids
-- so-called liquidity takers -- it now costs 30 cents per 100
shares. Instinet charges 75 cents per 100 shares if the customer
trades less than 500,0000 shares a month. Previously, most
customers paid between 40 cents and $1.50 per 100 shares when they
responded to a posted offer. The cost depended on how much
business they did with Instinet. The few customers who traded at
least 75 million shares a month paid 30 cents per 100 share.
Instinet also slashed its prices on exchange-traded funds.
Investors who post offers to buy or sell ETFs on Instinet will get
rebates of 15 cents per 100 shares. Investors who trade with those
offers will be charged 19 cents per 100 shares. Previously,
investors paid up to $1.00 per 100 shares, whether they were
posting an offer or trading with it.
Shares of Instinet fell 49 cents, or 6 percent to $7.64. The
stock has fallen 46 percent since it went public last May.