European stock exchange operator Euronext has unveiled plans to enhance its range of solutions for exchange-traded fund trading with the launch of a ‘Request for Size’ (RFS) service for ETFs listed on its regulated markets.

Pedro Fernandes, Head of European Exchange Traded Products at Euronext.

The RFS service will enable market participants to request a price for large-in-scale ETF orders and consequently benefit from potential size/price improvement of the liquidity available on its central order book at any moment of the trading session.

Once a market participant sends a RFS message to the Euronext trading platform, it will be broadcast to all participants. Responses to the requests are made via ‘limit’ orders of market parties, and integrated directly into the central order book which makes them visible and tradable by all participants, including the RFS initiator. The service will be launched in the fourth quarter of 2014.

Pedro Fernandes, Head of European Exchange Traded Products at Euronext, said: “The RFS service is an addition to the range of initiatives Euronext launched in 2014 to support the fast developing ETF market in Europe. The ETF business has thrived over the last years and the outlook for 2014 is very positive. In the first four months of 2014, we reported the strongest growth of newly listed ETFs in our market since 2011.The growth of asset under management of ETFs and its usage is set to continue as an increasing number of investors, both institutional and retail, are looking to ETFs as the product of choice to support their investment objectives.”

He added: “Euronext is committed to facilitate and accelerate the fast developing ETF market. To this end we launched a number of initiatives in 2014. Among them were the NAV trading facility for ETFs, the multicurrency trading service for ETFs and we listed the first ETF with an international security settlement structure in continental Europe. All our initiatives were introduced to help the ETF market realize its full potential, and we will continue to do so.”

The announcement comes just days after the operator’s UK exchange, Euronext London, gained official Recognised Investment Exchange (RIE) status from the Financial Conduct Authority. RIE status enables the exchange to act as a regulated primary listings market for companies and ETPs, putting it on an equal footing with both the London Stock Exchange and BATS Chi-X Europe.

Euronext is a wholly owned subsidiary of Intercontinental Exchange (ICE).