NYSE Euronext (NYX) said Wednesday it would launch its European platform for so-called "dark pool" trading Feb. 2 after securing approval from the U.K.'s financial regulator.

The bank-backed SmartPool platform had been slated for launch last June, but exchange officials said it was pushed back in response to changing market infrastructure.

The transatlantic exchange operator is competing with London Stock Exchange Group PLC (LSE.LN) in Europe to tap the fast-growing dark pool market.

Dark pools are private markets in which buyers and sellers connect and trade large blocks of equities anonymously.

U.S.-based brokerage Knight Capital Group (NITE) and Pipeline, a dark pool operator based in New York, also aim to launch European platforms this year.

Despite the high-profile players targeting the market, dark pools continue to represent a fraction of overall European equities trading. Late 2008 estimates put dark pools' market share at less than 1% of executed trades.

Yvette Roozenbeek, acting chief executive of SmartPool, on Wednesday downplayed expectations as the platform prepares to launch next week.

"We plan a controlled and phased roll-out of markets and expect volumes to develop over time, particularly in current market conditions," she said in a statement.

SmartPool will begin trading about 1,000 stocks from 15 European markets. London-based LCH.Clearnet will clear Euronext-listed stocks, with EuroCCP clearing trades in the other 11 markets.

The LSE's Baikal dark pool platform was delayed after the collapse of Lehman Brothers, its erstwhile partner. The exchange continues to target a second-quarter launch.

An LSE spokeswoman said the exchange has been reviewing Baikal's technology since September, and noted the appointment of several executives to lead the initiative, including Baikal's Chief Executive John Wilson, a former executive at Lehman and UBS AG (UBS).

NYSE Euronext's SmartPool recently named former Deutsche Bank AG (DB) executive Johanna Danby as chief operating officer, with Charles Armytage, formerly of Thomson Reuters Corp. (TRI), joining as senior sales manager.

The platform is backed by BNP Paribas SA (BNPQY), HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC) and JP Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM).

The impending launch of SmartPool follows the announcement that the New York Block Exchange, or NYBX, a joint venture between NYSE Euronext and broker-dealer BIDS Holdings LP, will go live Thursday.

NYBX represents the exchange's effort to attract more block orders - 10,000 or more shares - to its U.S. markets. The platform gained approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission this week.

Separately, NYSE Euronext is prepping NYSE Arca Europe, its European multilateral trading facility, or MTF.

The unit, which will target high-frequency trading in blue-chip stocks, is NYSE Euronext's answer to intensifying competition in European equity trading, where MTFs such as Chi-X Europe, BATS Trading Europe, Turquoise and Nasdaq OMX Europe have put pressure on established bourses.

"We see the European market as an opportunity and a risk," said NYSE Euronext Chief Financial Officer Mike Geltzeiler, speaking at a Citi Investment Research conference Wednesday.

While Geltzeiler said the exchange company is at risk of losing business in its established equities markets in Brussels, Paris, Amsterdam and Lisbon, NYSE Euronext management has been pleased with how its market share has held up following the arrival of MTF competitors last year.

Also, NYSE Euronext is building relationships with high-frequency traders it hopes will sign on with SmartPool, NYSE Arca Europe and other efforts in the region, Geltzeiler said.

An NYSE Euronext spokeswoman said Wednesday there remains no start date for NYSE Arca Europe.

-By Jacob Bunge, Dow Jones Newswires; 312-750-4117; jacob.bunge@dowjones.com

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