The federal government in Australia has granted a licence to Chi-X to operate as an alternative securities exchange, competing with the ASX.
Chi-X is owned by Nomura, an investment house in Japan. It already operates exchanges in Canada and Japan and a joint venture with the Singapore exchange.
It will be required to meet conditions relating to adequate resourcing, including the establishment of a compensation fund and testing of technical infrastructure before trading goes live later this year.
The government says the new exchange will contribute to Australia's development as a financial hub, by lowering transaction costs through competition and improving liquidity and access to capital.
