Omega says its back in the race, raises fees

Last month, Omega issued a press release that said it was looking to shed its status as "the last horse in the ATS race." To do that it is introducing a Canadian-built trading
engine, ThymeX, which it says will make it one of the fastest ATSs in the
business. Omega candid chairman Eric Stoop says he wants to turn Omega into
something innovative and interesting versus a nuisance also-ran that looks like
it is dying on the vine.

According to Mr. Stoop, over the past six months Omega's volume has risen to a high of more than five million shares a day, up from 1.5 million. He also says his ATS captured 0.12 per cent of the market share in the first quarter of 2010, up from the 0.05 per cent it
achieved in the fourth quarter of 2009.

Omega hopes that the new ThymeX platform will attract high frequency traders, but it does not say whether it plans on changing its fee structure. Currently the ATS charges the active side 0.07 of a cent per share, but does not offer passive rebates, making it
unattractive to high frequency traders (they also do not offer GTC or GT orders,
only day orders are currently allow, which is a big issue for traders).

Furthermore, Omega has significantly upped monthly fees.  They now charge 350$
a month subscriber fee, 125$ access fee and 450$ for a drop copy of previous
days trades.  This makes Omega one of the most expensive ATS’s (considering some firms may only make a few trades a month
on Omega ATS).

Mr. Stoop also says he is considering making the ATS a hybrid between a standard market, where orders are posted, and a dark pool, where orders are hidden.

by Stockwatch Business Reporter