Nasdaq has begun an experimental fees programme, lowing access fees for 14 key stocks representing both large and small firms on the US equity listings venue.
For at least four months, fees will be reduced from 30 cents per 100 to 5 cents per 100, and rebates for liquidity provision on the Nasdaq Stock Market will be reduced.
The experiment is designed to generate data about the impact of access fees on things like the level of off-exchange trading, price discovery, trading costs, displayed liquidity and execution quality.
Statistics analysed will include changes in market share, displayed liquidity, effective spread and volatility among metrics.
It is part of a greater aim of increasing transparency, innovating in new regions and expanding opportunities for investors. Nasdaq’s Economic and Statistical Research Group will periodically post the results to the public.
Tom Wittman, head of global equities and executive vice president of global trading and market services at Nasdaq, said: "We have a bias to action and finding solutions based on empirical evidence."
He added: "Today we move forward proactively with our experimental pricing program to see how lowered access fees affects the quality of the markets for investors and public companies."
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