About a-team Marketing Services
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry
The knowledge platform for the financial technology industry

A-Team Insight Blogs

TMX Group Unveils Two New Order Books to Democratise Speed and Improved Execution Quality

Subscribe to our newsletter

TMX Group has introduced two new equities order books on its Alpha trading platform, Alpha-X and Alpha DRK, in a move that aims to democratise speed of access and improve execution quality for natural order flow on the Canadian market.

The launch of the two new order books promises a more optimised trading environment that addresses the challenges of adverse selection in fast markets. Both Alpha-X and Alpha DRK are designed to cater to all market participants, allowing them to refine their trading strategies and achieve better execution outcomes.

“Traditionally, marketplaces have focused on either speed or price to set themselves apart,” Rizwan Awan, President of Equity Trading & Head of TMX Markets, Products and Services at TMX Group, tells TradingTech Insight. “However, there’s a discerning clientele out there looking for a third dimension, which is execution quality. We saw that as an opportunity for TMX because there’s currently no marketplace in Canada that goes after that niche.”

Alpha-X, a lit order book, and Alpha DRK, a dark pool, run on the same trading platform as TSX Alpha, TMX’s order book that imposes a randomised order processing delay of between 1 and 3 milliseconds on all orders that have the potential to take liquidity. This is designed to discourage opportunistic liquidity taking strategies, says Awan.

“As with the existing TSX Alpha Exchange, the speed bump on Alpha-X and Alpha DRK slows down trading to give more participants the opportunity to participate and trade in fast-moving markets,” he says. “A key innovation we’ve now introduced on top of the speed bump is the introduction of two new order types.”

Alpha-X offers the Smart Limit order type, an innovative feature designed to assist clients in navigating volatile market conditions by rapidly adjusting orders in real time. “The Smart Limit order type dynamically reads prices and detects if a quote is about to decay,” says Awan. “We have a proprietary AI model, which constantly detects whether a quote is stable or not. If it’s unstable, the system pulls the orders back on behalf of the client. Building out functionality that detects and moves orders based on decaying quotes is a complex undertaking that has traditionally been the domain of liquidity providers. Smart Limit orders democratise that ability for everyone.”

Alpha DRK, in addition to a range of pegged order types such as Primary, Market, Minimum Price Improvement, and Midpoint, also features the new Smart Peg order type, an undisclosed order type pegged to the passive side of the NBBO (national best bid and offer) with the discretionary capability of trading at more aggressive prices up to the midpoint.

Both markets are now live.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Related content

WEBINAR

Recorded Webinar: High-Performance Networks & Low-Latency Connectivity for Trading

With financial markets becoming more complex and interconnected in today’s electronic trading environment, trading firms, exchanges, and infrastructure providers need to continually push the boundaries of network performance to stay ahead. Ultra-low latency, seamless connectivity, and resilient infrastructure are no longer just advantages – to stay competitive, they’re necessities. This webinar, part of the A-Team...

BLOG

Nasdaq and AWS Launch Global Market Modernisation Blueprint

Nasdaq and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have unveiled a new suite of solutions aimed at supporting market operators in modernising their infrastructure while maintaining high standards of resilience, security and performance. The initiative builds on the firms’ ongoing partnership and Nasdaq’s own modernisation journey using AWS technologies. The resulting blueprint is designed to support capital...

EVENT

ESG Data & Tech Briefing London

The ESG Data & Tech Briefing will explore challenges around assembling and evaluating ESG data for reporting and the impact of regulatory measures and industry collaboration on transparency and standardisation efforts. Expert speakers will address how the evolving market infrastructure is developing and the role of new technologies and alternative data in improving insight and filling data gaps.

GUIDE

AI in Capital Markets: Practical Insight for a Transforming Industry – Free Handbook

AI is no longer on the horizon – it’s embedded in the infrastructure of modern capital markets. But separating real impact from inflated promises requires a grounded, practical understanding. The AI in Capital Markets Handbook 2025 provides exactly that. Designed for data-driven professionals across the trade life-cycle, compliance, infrastructure, and strategy, this handbook goes beyond...