LSE gears up for new tech direction

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) Group is reviewing its technology strategy, with its TradElect trading platform under particular scrutiny.

TradElect was introduced in June 2007, the culmination of a four-year technology roadmap for the LSE which cost around £40m.

But it now appears the LSE is considering its tech options: "TradElect has been absolutely instrumental in ensuring that the Group continues to offer the deepest and most liquid markets in both London and Milan... That said, the pace of change in trading technology is fast, and we continue to look at ways to create further efficiency and add more value," the LSE said in a statement.

An LSE spokesman told silicon.com: "We are actively considering what our next big technology development would be. We're still at the reviewing stage, nothing's been confirmed."

Despite question marks over the platform's future, the LSE is still planning to continue decreasing latency on the system and use it as the backbone of its forthcoming pan-European dark liquidity trading venue Baikal, the spokesman said.

Earlier this year, the LSE's incoming CEO Xavier Rolet highlighted the crucial role technology plays at the exchange.

"We are also seeing the continued growth in technology-intensive, high-frequency trading making our technology strategy even more important. Indeed, such is the pace of change in our industry, we are already planning what will be the next step change in the technology space," Rolet said when he took over the CEO job in May.

Rolet's recent arrival as the LSE's CEO prompted the group to review its operational structure in general - a move it says will lead to redundancies. The exchange has yet to put a figure on how many jobs will be lost although it's thought to more than 100 positions.