"This is an example of NYSE Euronext and the industry working together to develop a positive solution to address the lack of understanding regarding the extent and nature of ˜dark pool' trading , which has been a concern for regulators and legislators," said Joseph Mecane, NYSE Euronext's Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer for U.S. Markets. "We believe this will bring requisite and appropriate sunlight to alternative trading systems and other sources of off-exchange liquidity, and also help standardize the way their trading volumes are reported."

NYSE Euronext has been discussing the idea with a number of firms that operate ATSs and off-exchange trading venues, and Barclays Capital, GETCO, Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing, L.P., Knight Equity Markets, L.P. and UBS Investment Bank have volunteered to begin reporting their respective venues' activity to the FINRA/NYSE TRF in November 2009. Other firms have indicated an interest in NYSE Euronext's transparency initiative and are establishing the necessary technology to begin participating in the program in the coming weeks.

"This initiative is an important step toward the standardization of trade volume reporting across ATS venues," said Frank Troise, Head of Equities Electronic Product at Barclays Capital. "Industry participants will be able to make more informed order placement decisions and thereby improve their execution quality."

"We need to maintain the right balance between vibrant public price discovery and individual execution preference," said Jon Ross head of GETCO Execution Services. "This initiative is an important first step in collecting the data critical to analyzing and preserving that balance."

"We're looking forward to the launch of NYSE Euronext's ATS-transparency initiative," said Greg Tusar, Head of Electronic Trading in the Americas at Goldman Sachs.