Bloomberg Targets European OMS Arena.

Bloomberg, which rolled out a sell-side equity trade order management system last year, is aiming to create a global product by adding connectivity to Euronext, the Deutsche Borse's Xetra and the London Stock Exchange, and is planning to bring the first client live by the beginning of the fourth quarter.

"We'll be able to access these exchanges through an ECN such as Global Tradebook, but clients may not be able to directly access the exchanges themselves until the first quarter of '04," said Bloomberg's Robert Boylan. The system will first be integrated with Euronext, then Xetra and then the LSE, he said.

Bloomberg is looking to provide an offering that would be "an economical solution" to alternatives such as Royalblue's Fidessa, he said.

Bloomberg is the latest entry into the European order management system (OMS) market. Last month, Reuters said it was entering the cross-border European cash equity and equity derivatives area with Reuters Order Management for Exchange Execution, available on the Reuters 3000 Xtra desktop. The OMS was designed with Stockholm-based Orc Software, and will also be available through the vendor's Internet-based, mid-tier European Securities product, due for release in the third quarter. In addition to London-based Royalblue, other players in the space include Paris-based GL Trade and Stockholm-based OM.

Bloomberg's sell-side equity trade order management system, initially focused on the Nasdaq market, was rolled out last January at Wedbush Morgan, said Boylan. About 14 other market-makers are using the system, which is an alternative to the Nasdaq workstation, he said.

The product provides position management, risk management and order management, and is integrated with the major ECNs. Transactions are sent electronically to a user's back office.

"The true end game for us is to put Bloombergs on equity traders' and equity sales traders' desktops, where historically we've had a lot thinner presence," Boylan said.

Bloomberg also provides a portfolio order management system (POMS) for the buy side and a trade order management system for the sell side (TOMS) that is focused on bonds. There are about 600 to 650 firms using Bloomberg TOMS and POMS. Copyright 2003 Thomson Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.thomsonmedia.com http://www.securitiesindustry.com