Uninterrupted service delivery to Europe’s largest financial institutions

E-Crossnet, Europe’s dedicated equity crossing network for institutional investors, has installed a new protected power solution at its London headquarters. It was implemented in partnership with on365, the UK’s leading independent UPS specialist, and will enable the delivery of the highest levels of uninterrupted service to clients which include over seventy of Europe’s largest financial institutions. These institutions, which include managers of active and passive strategies as well as those responsible for portfolio restructuring, are driven by the common goal of reducing the costs of buying and selling European shares.

E-Crossnet is an investors-only European equity crossing system that enables investment institutions to carry out securities transactions anonymously with each other at middle market prices without the use of conventional market intermediaries. By eliminating the costs ofmarket impact and the spread between bid
and offer prices, savings of up to 80% on total trading costs are achieved. Operating in 14 countries, E-Crossnet facilitates crossing in more than  3000 European equities.

Technology is a key enabler for the system, which was developed by the institutional investment community in partnership with Merrill Lynch International and Bloomberg LP. E-Crossnet provides its users with unparalleled levels of operational efficiency using electronic links, straight-through processing and electronic trade confirmation. Electronic routing, using the Bloomberg network or via FIX, facilitates rapid order submission and the return of matched trades and residuals to participants within just a few minutes.

To meet the demands of international markets, it was essential to implement a protected power solution to provide high levels of resilience. In partnership with on365, one of APC’s leading High Powered Partners,
a Symmetra Master Frame UPS with extended run-time was installed to protect the whole financial trading floor. This prevents any loss of communications should a power failure occur by providing vital back-up for the dealing desks and communications racks.

According to Colin Wyatt, IT Network Manager of E-Crossnet: “on365 has helped us to implement an extremely robust protected power solution that will enable us to deliver the highest levels of uninterrupted service to clients. E-Crossnet has already carved out a significant share of the market and a resilient and reliable technology platform will enable us to build on this success still further.”